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BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


OP 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN. 


EDITED  FROM  HIS  MANUSCRIPT,  WITH  NOTES 
AND  AN  INTRODUCTION, 


BY 

JOHN    BIGELOW. 


Sage  plein  d'indulgence,  grand  homme  plein  de  simplicity  tant 
qu'on  cultivera  la  science,  qu'on  admirera  le  genie,  qu'on  goutera 
1'esprit,  qu'on  honorera  la  vertu,  qu'on  voudra  la  liberte,  sa  me- 
moire  sera  Tune  des  plus  respectees  et  des  plus  cheries.  Puisse- 
t-il  etre  utile  encore  par  ses  examples  apres  1'avoir  etc  par  ses 
actions  !  L'un  des  bienfaiteurs  de  1'humanite,  qu'il  reste  un  de  ses 
modeles  ! 

MIGNET,  de  V Academic  Franfaise. 


PHILADELPHIA: 

J.    B.    LIPPINCOTT    &    CO, 
LONDON:   TRUBNER   &   CO. 

1868. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1868,  by 
JOHN    BIGELOW, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Ucfted  States,  for  the  Southern 
District  of  New  York. 


Lippiif COTT'S  PRESS, 

rUILADBLPHIA. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGH 

INTRODUCTORY     7 


FRANKLIN'S  OUTLINE  OF  TOPICS 61 

THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF  FRANKLIN 65 

APPENDIX 361 

INDEX 389 


JVJ351012 


L 


IT  is  proper  that  I  state  the  circumstances  which  seem 
to  have  imposed  upon  me  the  duty  of  adding  another 
to    the    already    numberless    editions   of   Dr.    Franklin's 
Autobiography. 

It  is  well  known  that  Franklin  prepared  so  much  of 
the  celebrated  Memoirs  of  his  life  as  was  originally  in 
tended  for  publication,  mainly  at  the  solicitation  of  one 
of  his  most  cherished  friends  in  France — M.  le  Veillard, 
then  Mayor  of  Passy.  Towards  the  close  of  the  year 
1789  he  presented  to  this  gentleman  a  copy  of  all  this 
sketch  that  was  then  finished.  At  the  Doctor's  death,  his 
papers,  including  the  original  of  the  manuscript,  passed 
into  the  hands  of  one  of  his  grandsons,  William  Temple 
Franklin,*  who  undertook  to  prepare  an  edition  of  the 


*  Benjamin  Franklin  died  on  the  lyth  of  April,  1790,  aged  eighty- 
four  years  and  three  months. 


8 


life  and  writings  of  his  grandfather  for  a  publishing  house 
in  London. 

For  the  greater  convenience  of  the  printer  in  the  pre 
paration  of  this  edition — so  goes  the  tradition  in  the  Le 
Veillard  family — William  Temple  Franklin  exchanged 
the  original  autograph  with  Mrs.  le  Veillard,  then  a 
widow,  for  her  copy  of  the  Memoirs  ;  and  thus  the  auto 
graph  passed  out  of  the  Franklin  family. 

At  the  death  of  the  widow  le  Veillard  this  manuscript 
passed  to  her  daughter ;  and  at  her  death,  in  1834,  ^  ke- 
came  the  property  of  her  cousin,  M.  de  Senarmont, 
whose  grandson,  M.  P.  de  Senarmont,  transferred  it  to 
me  on  the  26th  of  January,  1867,  with  several  other 
memorials  of  Franklin  which  had  descended  to  him  with 
the  manuscript.  Among  the  latter  were  the  famous  pastel 
portrait  of  Franklin  by  Duplessis  which  he  presented 
to  M.  le  Veillard ;  a  number  of  letters  to  M.  le  Veil 
lard  from  Dr.  Franklin  and  from  his  grandsons,  William 
Temple  Franklin  and  Benjamin  Franklin  Bache ;  to 
gether  with  a  minute  outline  of  the  topics  of  his  Me 
moirs,  brought  down  to  the  termination  of  his  mission  to 
France. 

I  availed  myself  of  my  earliest  leisure  to  subject  the 
Memoirs  to  a  careful  collation  with  the  edition  which 
appeared  in  London  in  1817,  and  which  was  the  first  and 
only  edition  that  ever  purported  to  have  been  printed 
from  the  manuscript.  The  results  of  this  collation  re 
vealed  the  curious  fact  that  more  than  twelve  hundred 
separate  and  distinct  changes  had  been  made  in  the  text, 
and,  what  is  more  remarkable,  that  the  last  eight  pages 
of  the  manuscript,  which  are  second  in  value  to  no  other 
eight  pages  of  the  work,  were  omitted  entirely. 


Many  of  these  changes  are  mere  modernizations  of 
style  ;  such  as  would  measure  some  of  the  modifications 
which  English  prose  had  undergone  between  the  days  of 
Goldsmith  and  Southey.  Some,  Franklin  might  have 
approved  of;  others  he  might  have  tolerated;  but  it  is 
safe  to  presume  that  very  many  he  would  have  rejected 
without  ceremony. 

A  few  specimens  taken  from  the  first  chapter  will  show 
the  general  character  of  these  changes. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  very  first  words  of  the 
edition  of  1817  are  interpolations.  It  commences  : 

"To  William  Franklin,  Governor  of  New  Jersey. 
"Dear  Son,  &c." 

The  autograph  commences  with  "Dear  Son,"  naming 
no  person. 

Though  William  Franklin  was  the  Doctor's  only  son, 
and  in  1771,  when  this  was  commenced,  was  also  Gov 
ernor  of  New  Jersey,  it  is  very  unlikely  that  the  Doctor 
would  have  given  his  son  any  titles  in  addressing  him  a 
communication  of  this  domestic  and  confidential  charac 
ter.  This  improbability  is  increased  by  the  circumstance 
that  at  the  time  this  manuscript  was  revised  and  copied  to 
be  sent  to  his  friend,  Le  Veillard,  William  Franklin  not 
only  was  not  Governor  of  New  Jersey,  but  was  not  living 
upon  terms  even  of  friendly  correspondence  with  his 
grandfather.  The  fact  that  the  French  version  com 
mences  with  "Mon  cher  fils,"  omitting  the  name  and 
title,  leaves  no  doubt  that  the  titles  were  added  by  the 
editor  in  the  edition  of  1817. 

A* 


10 


(From  the  Edition  of  iSi;,/.  I.*) 
Imagining  it  may  be  equally 
agreeable  to  you  to  learn  the  cir 
cumstances  of  my  life,  many  of 
which  you  are  unacquainted  with, 
and  expecting  the  enjoyment  of  a 
few  weeks'  uninterrupted  leisure,  I 
sit  down  to  write  them.  Besides, 
there  are  some  other  inducements 
that  excite  me  to  this  undertaking. 
From  the  poverty  and  obscurity  in 
which  I  was  born,  and  in  which  I 
passed  my  earliest  years,  I  have 
raised  myself  to  a  state  of  affluence 
and  some  degree  of  celebrity  in  the 
world.  As  constant  good  fortune  has 
accompanied  me  even  to  an  advanced 
period  of  life,  my  posterity  will  per 
haps  be  desirous  of  learning  the 
means  which  I  employed,  and  which, 
thanks  to  Providence,  so  well  suc 
ceeded  with  me.  They  may  also 
deem  them  Jit  to  be  imitated,  should 
any  of  them  find  themselves  in  simi 
lar  circumstances. 

(From  the  Edition  of  1817,  /.  4.) 

My  grandfather  Thomas,  who 
was  born  1598,  lived  at  Ecton  till 
he  was  too  old  to  continue  his  busi 
ness,  when  he  retired  to  Banbury 
in  Oxfordshire  to  the  house  of  his 
son  John  with  whom  my  father 
served  an  apprenticeship.  There 
my  uncle  died  and  lies  buried. 


(From  the  Autograph,  p.  I.) 
Imagining  it  may  be  equally 
agreeable  to  you  to  know  the  cir 
cumstances  of  my  life,  many  of 
which  you  are  yet  unacquainted 
with,  and  expecting  a  week's  un 
interrupted  leisure  in  my  present 
country  retirement,  I  sit  down  to 
write  ihem.foryou. 

To  which  I  have  besides  some 
other  inducements.  Having  emerged 
from  the  poverty  and  obscurity  in 
which  I  was  born  and  bred  to  a 
state  of  affluence  and  some  de 
gree  of  reputation  in  the  world, 
and  having  gone  so  far  through  life 
with  a  considerable  share  of  felicity, 
the  conducing  means  I  made  use  of, 
which,  with  the  blessing  of  God,  so 
well  succeeded,  my  posterity  may  like 
to  know,  as  they  may  find  some  of 
them  suitable  to  their  own  situations, 
and  therefore  fit  to  be  imitated. 


(From  the  Autograph,  p.  I.) 

My  grandfather  Thomas,  who 
was  born  in  1598,  lived  at  Ecton 
till  he  grew  too  old  to  follow  busi 
ness  longer  when  he  went  to  live 
with  his  son  John,  a  dyer,  at  Ban- 
bury  in  Oxfordshire  with  whom 
my  father  served  an  apprentice 
ship.  There  my  grandfather  died 
and  lies  buried. 


*  Whenever  I  shall  have  occasion  to  cite  the  edition  of  1817,  refer 
ence  will  be  made  to  the  American  edition  of  this  work,  in  six  vols., 
published  in  Philadelphia  in  1818. 


II 


(Edition  of  iSi;,/.  4.) 

My  grandfather  had  four  sons 
who  grew  up,  viz. :  Thomas,  John, 
Benjamin  and  Josiah.  Being  at  a 
distance  from  my  papers,  I  will  give 
you  what  account  I  can  of  them 
from  memory,  and  if  my  papers 
are  not  lost  in  my  absence,  you  will 
find  among  them  many  more  par 
ticulars. 


[Omitted.] 

(From  the  Edition  of  1817, /.  10.) 
I  suppose  you  may  like  to  know 
"what  kind  of  a  man  my  father  was. 
He  had  an  excellent  constitution, 
and  was  of  a  middle  stature,  well 
set,  and  very  strong;  he  could 
draw  prettily,  and  was  a  little 
skilled  in  music ;  his  voice  was  son 
orous  and  agreeable  so  that  when 
he  played  on  his  violin  and  sung 
withal,  as  he  was  accustomed  to  do 
after  the  bttsiness  of  the  day  was 
over,  it  was  extremely  agreeable  to 
hear.  He  had  some  knowledge  of 
mechanics,  and  on  occasion  was 
very  handy  with  other  tradesmen's 
tools  but  his  great  excellence  was 
his  sound  understanding,  etc. 

(Edition  of  \%\i, p.  15.) 
About  this  time  I  met  with  an 
odd  volume  of  the  Spectator.     I 
had  never  before  seen  any  of  them. 


(Autograph,  p.  2.) 

My  grandfather  had  four  sons 
that  grew  up,  viz.:  Thomas,  John, 
Benjamin  and  Josiah.  I  will  give 
you  what  account  I  can  of  them  at 
this  distance  from  my  papers,  and  if 
these  are  not  lost  in  my  absence,  you 
will,  among  them,  find  many  more 
particulars. 

(Autograph,  p.  3.) 

I  was  named  after  this  uncle, 
there  being  a  particular  affection 
between  him  and  my  father. 

(From  the  Autograph,  p.  7.) 
/  think  you  may  like  to  know 
something  of  his  person  and  charac 
ter.  He  had  an  excellent  constitu 
tion  of  body,  was  of  middle  stature, 
but  well  set  and  very  strong;  he 
was  ingenious;  could  draw  prettily, 
and  was  skilled  a  little  in  music, 
and  had  a  clear,  pleasing  voice,  so 
that  when  he  played  psalm  tunes 
on  his  violin,  and  sung  withal,  as 
he  sometimes  did  in  an  evening,  after 
the  business  of  the  day  was  over, 
it  was  extremely  agreeable  to  hear. 
He  had  a  mechanical  genius  too,  and 
on  occasion  was  very  handy  in  the 
use  of  other  tradesmen's  tools  but 
his  great  excellence  lay  in  a  sound 
understanding,  etc. 

(Autograph,  p.  13.) 
About  this  time  I  met  with  an 
odd  volume  of  the  Spectator.     // 
was  the  third.     I  had  never  before, 
etc. 


(From  Edition  of  iSij,  f>.  1 6.) 

The  time  I  allotted  for  writing 
Exercises  and  for  reading  was  at 
night  or  before  work  began  in  the 
morning  or  on  Sunday,  when  I 
contrived  to  be  in  the  printing 
house,  evading  as  much  as'I  could 
the  constant  attendance  at  public 
worship,  which  my  father  used  to 
exact  from  me  when  I  was  under 
his  care  and  which  I  still  con 
tinued  to  consider  as  a  duty,  though 
I  could  not  afford  time  to  practice 
it. 

(Edition  of  i8iy,/.  21.) 
He  agreed  with  the  captain  of  a 
New  York  sloop  to  take  me  under 
pretence  of  my  being  a  young  man 
of  his  acquaintance  that  had  an 
intrigue  with  a  girl  of  bad  charac 
ter,  whose  parents  would  compel 
me  to  marry  her ;  and  that  I  could 
neither  appear  or  come  away  pub 
licly. 

(From  the  Edition  of  1817,^.  23.) 
On  approaching  the  island,  we 
found  it  was  in  a  place  where  there 
could  be  no  landing,  there  being  a 
great  surf  on  the  stony  beach,  so 
we  dropped  anchor  and  swung  out 
our  cable  towards  the  shore.  Some 
people  came  down  to  the  shore  and 
hallooed  as  we  did  to  them,  but  the 
wind  was  so  high  and  the  surf  so 
loud  that  we  could  not  understand 
each  other.  There  were  some 
small  boats  near  the  shore  and  we 
made  signs  and  called  them  to 


(From  the  Autograph,  p.  14.) 

My  time  for  these  exercises  and 
for  reading  was  at  night  after  work, 
or  before  it  began  in  the  morning 
or  on  Sundays,  when  I  contrived 
to  be  in  the  printing  house  alone, 
avoiding  as  much  as  I  could  the 
Common  attendance  on  public  wor 
ship  which  my  father  used  to 
exact  from  me  when  I  was  under 
his  care  and  which,  indeed,  I  still 
thought  a  duty,  though  I  could  not, 
as  it  seemed  to  me,  afford  time  to 
practice  it. 

(Autograph,  p.  22.) 
He  agreed  with  the  captain  of  a 
New  York  sloop  for  my  passage, 
under  the  notion  of  my  being  a 
young  acquaintance  of  his  that  had 
got  a  naughty  girl  with  child,  whose 
friends  would  compel  me  to  marry 
her,  and  therefore  I  could  not  ap 
pear,  or  come  away  publicly. 


(From  the  Autograph,  p.  24.) 
When  we  drew  near  the  island 
we  found  it  was  at  a  place  where 
there  could  be  no  landing,  there  be 
ing  a  great  surf  on  the  stony  beach, 
so  we  dropped  anchor  and  swung 
around  toward  the  shore.  Some 
people  came  down  to  the  water 
edge  and  hallooed  to  us  as  we  did  to 
them,  but  the  wind  was  so  high 
and  the  surf  so  loud,  that  we  could 
not  hear,  so  as  to  understand  each 
other.  There  were  canoes  on  the 
shore,  and  we  made  signs  and  hoi- 


fetch  us;  but  they  either  did  not 
comprehend  us,  or  it  was  imprac 
ticable,  so  they  went  off;  night  ap 
proaching,  we  had  no  remedy  but 
to  have  patience  till  the  wind  abated, 
and  in  the  meantime  the  boatman 
and'  myself  concluded  to  sleep  if 
we  could ;  and  so  we  crowded  into 
the  hatches  where  we  joined  the 
Dutchman,  who  was  still  wet,  and 
the  spray  breaking  over  the  head 
of  our  boat,  etc. 

(From  the  Edition  of  1817,  /.  29.) 

I  was  not  a  little  surprised,  and 

Keimer  stared  with  astonishment. 

(Edition  of  \t>\l, p.  33.) 
But  during  my  absence  he  had  ac 
quired  a  habit  of  drinking  of  bran 
dy ;  and  I  found  by  his  own  account 
as  -well  as  tJiat  of  others,  that  he  had 
been  drunk  every  day  since  his 
arrival  at  New  York,  and  behaved 
himself  in  a  very  extravagant  man- 


The  Governor  received  me  with 
great  civility,  showed  me  his  libra 
ry,  which  was  a  considerable  one,  and 
we  had  a  good  deal  of  conversation 
relative  to  books  and  authors. 


loed  that  they  should  fetch  us,  but 
they  either  did  not  understand  us 
or  thought  it  impracticable,  so  they 
went  away,  and  night  coming  on, 
we  had  no  remedy  but  to  wait  till 
the  wind  should  abate ;  and,in  the 
meantime,  the  boatman  and  /con 
cluded  to  sleep  if  we  could ;  and  so 
crowded  into  the  scuttle  with  the 
Dutchman  who  was  still  wet,  and 
the  spray  beating  over  the  head  of 
our  boat,  etc. 

(From  the  Autograph,  p.  34.) 
I  was  not  a  little  surprised,  and 
Keimer  stared  like  a  pig  poisoned. 

(From  the  Autograph,  p.  39-) 
But  during  my  absence  he  had 
acquired  a  habit  of  sotting  -with 
brandy;  and  I  found  by  his  own 
account  and  what  I  heard  from 
others,  that  he  had  been  drunk 
every  day  since  his  arrival  at  New 
York,  and  behaved  very  oddly. 

****** 
The  Governor  treated  me  with 
great  civility,  showed  me  his  libra 
ry,  which  was  a  very  large  one,  and 
we  had  a  good  deal  of  conversation 
about  books  and  authors. 


Collins  wished  to  be  employed  in 
some  counting  house,  but  whether 
they  discovered  his  dram  drinking 
by  his  breath,  or,  etc. 

(Edition  iSi;,/.  34.) 
The  violation  of  my  trust  respect 
ing  demon's  money  was,  etc. 

2 


Collins  wished  to  be  employed  in 
some  counting  house,  but  whether 
they  discovered  his  dramming  by 
his  breath,  or,  etc. 

(Autograph,  p.  40.) 
The  breaking  into  this  money  of 
Vernon's,  was,  etc. 


H 

(Edition  1817,^.  47.)  (Autograph,  p.  53.) 

I  drank   only  water,  the   other  I  drank  only  water,  the   other 

workmen,  near    fifty   in    number,  workmen,   near    fifty  in    number, 

were  great  drinkers  of  beer.  were  great  guzzlers  of  beer. 

(Edition  1817,  /.  55.)  (Autograph,  p.  62.) 
At  length,  receiving  his  quar-  At  length,  receiving  his  quar 
terly  allowance  of  fifteen  guineas,  terly  allowance  of  fifteen  guineas, 
instead  of  discharging  his  debts  he  instead  of  discharging  his  debts  he 
went  out  of  town,  hid  his  gown  in  walked  out  of  town,  hid  his  gown 
a  furze  bush  and  -walked  to  London.  in  a  furze  bush,  and  footed  it  to 

London. 

By  whom  were  these  changes  made  in  the  text  of  this 
manuscript? 

How  came  the  closing  pages  to  be  overlooked? 

Why  was  the  publication  which  purported  to  be  made 
from  the  manuscript  deferred  for  twenty-seven  years  after 
their  author's  death? 

How  happened  it  that  this  posthumous  work  which 
may  be  read  in  nearly  every  written  language  and  is  one 
of  the  half-dozen  most  widely  popular  books  ever  printed, 
should  have  filled  the  book-marts  of  the  world  for  a  quarter 
of  a  century  without  having  ever  been  verified  by  the 
original  manuscript? 

I  doubt  if  it  will  ever  be  possible  to  determine  all  these 
questions  with  absolute  certainty ;  but  I  propose  to  lay 
before  the  reader  such  information  as  I  have  been  able 
to  glean  from  a  variety  of  sources,  both  published  and 
unpublished,  leaving  him  to  draw  from  them  such  con 
clusions  as  he  thinks  the  testimony  will  warrant.  The 
array  which  I  shall  make,  if  it  do  not  settle  all  these 
questions,  may  lead,  it  is  to  be  hoped,  to  the  production 
of  latent  testimony  that  will. 


II. 

Dr.  Franklin  informs  us,  in  the  very  first  paragraph  of 
his  Memoirs,  that  he  had  undertaken  to  prepare  them  for 
the  edification  of  his  family.  The  first  eighty-seven  pages 
of  the  MS.,  which  embrace  the  first  twenty-five  years  of 
his  life  down  to  his  marriage,  appear  to  have  been  written 
in  j77i,  during  one  of  his  visits  to  Twyford,  the  country- 
seat  of  Dr.  Shipley,  then  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph,  and  with 
out  any  view  to  publication.* 

The  MS.  of  this  part  was  shown  to  some  of  his  friends, 
among  others  to  Mr.  Benjamin  Vaughan,  Mr.  Abel  James, 
and  to  M.  le  Veillard,  who  were  all  so  pleased  with  it 
that  they  urged  him  to  resume  and  publish  them.  He 
was  persuaded  to  do  so,  and  in  1784,  while  residing  at 
Passy,  then  a  suburb  of  Paris,  wrote  the  succeeding  pages 
of  the  MS.  to  page  104.  The  part  written  in  England 
was  followed  \vith  this  memorandum,  written,  doubtless, 
when  he  revised  the  Memoirs  in  1789 : 

u  MEM. — Thus  far  was  written  with  the  intention  ex 
pressed  in  the  beginning,  and  therefore  contains  several 
little  family  anecdotes  of  no  importance  to  others.  What 
follows  was  written  many  years  after,  and  in  compliance 
with  the  advice  contained  in  these  letters,f  and  accord- 


*  "  Expecting,"  he  says,  "  a  week's  uninterrupted  leisure  in  my  present 
country  retirement,  I  sit  down  to  write  them  for  you."  The  MS.  shows 
that  he  had  originally  written  it  "  for  your  perusal."  "  Perusal"  was 
afterward  stricken  out,  and  "use"  written  after  it.  This  word  was  also 
stricken  out,  and  the  phrase  left  as  in  the  text  The  editor  of  the  edition 
of  1817  strikes  out  the  words  "to  you"  also. 

t  The  letters  here  referred  to  are  from  Messrs.  Vaughan  and  James, 
and  will  be  found  in  their  proper  place. 


i6 

ingly  intended  for  the  public.     The  affairs  of  the  Revo 
lution  occasioned  the  interruption." 

Another  reason  for  continuing  his  Memoirs,  and  giving 
them  to  the  press,  has  been  assigned  by  M.  Castera,  who 
published  a  French  edition  of  some  of  Franklin's  works 
in  1793.  He  attributes  the  Autobiography  to  a  desire  on 
the  part  of  Franklin  and  his  French  friends  to  neutralize 
the  pernicious  influence  of  Rousseau's  Confessions,  which, 
during  the  latter  part  of  Franklin's  residence  in  Paris, 
were  the  topic  of  every  salon.  These  friends  thought  that 
it  would  be  curious  to  compare  the  history  of  a  writer 
who  seemed  to  have  used  his  brilliant  imagination  merely 
to  render  himself  miserable,  with  that  of  a  philosopher 
who  employed  all  the  resources  of  an  equally  gifted  intel 
lect  to  assure  his  own  happiness  by  contributing  to  the 
happiness  of  others.* 


*  For  the  whole  Preface,  see  Appendix,  No.  I.  It  is  a  curious  cir 
cumstance  that  the  copy  of  the  Memoirs  given  in  this  collection  of  Cas 
tera  was  translated  from  an  English  edition,  which  was  itself  only  a 
translation  from  the  first  French  translation,  thus  removed  by  three 
translations  from  the  original.  The  gossips  of  Paris  used  to  cir 
culate  a  story  illustrative  of  Franklin's  constitutional  propensity  to 
take  cheerful  views  of  things.  The  author  of  Correspondence  secrete 
intdite  sur  Louis  XVI.,  Marie  Antoinette,  la  Cour  et  la  Ville,  de  1777 
a  1792,  edited  by  M.  Lescure,  and  published  by  M.  Henri  Plon 
in  1866,  writing  from  Versailles  the  6th  February,  1777,  says:  "I  fear 
to  speak  to  you  of  the  Americans.  The  British  Minister  represents 
them  as  beaten,  destroyed,  dispersed,  annihilated  even.  Letters  from 
St  Domingo,  from  our  own  ports  and  to  M.  Franklin,  assure  us  on 
the  contrary  that  the  English  are  in  a  bad  way ;  that  Howe  has  been 
whipped,  &c.  We  wait  for  confirmation  of  the  news.  Meantime  I  must 
tell  you  that  Franklin  is  not  the  medecin  tant pis.  For  whenever  they 
speak  to  him  at  Paris  of  any  check  experienced  by  the  Americans, 
he  cries  out,  'tant  mieiix?  the  English  will  be  caught  at  last"  Vol.  i. 
p.  1 8. 


'7 

A  comparison  of  dates  will  show  that  M.  Castera's 
theory  was  purely  imaginary. 

*  *  *  The  self-torturing  sophist,  wild  Rousseau, 
The  apostle  of  affliction,  *  *  * 

wrote  the  first  part  of  his  Confessions  during  his  residence 
in  England  in  the  years  1766  and  1767.  The  second  was 
composed  in  Dauphiny  and  at  Trye  in  the  years  1768  and 
177°'  It  was  his  intention  that  they  should  not  be  printed 
until  1 800,  presuming  that  by  that  time  all  who  figured 
in  them  would  have  ceased  to  live  ;  but  the  period  he  had 
fixed  for  their  publication  was  anticipated.  The  first  part 
was  printed  in  1781,  and  the  second  in  1788.  It  is  not 
likely  that  Franklin  or  any  of  his  friends  knew  anything 
of  them  till  the  first  part  was  published  in  1781,  and  all 
of  Franklin's  Memoirs  that  Castera  published  or  knew 
anything  of  had  been  written  ten  years  before. 

The  Doctor  returned  to  the  United  States  in  the  summer 
of  1785.  In  the  fall  of  that  year  he  received  a  note  from 
his  friend,  Mr.  Edward  Bancroft,  the  tenor  of  which  is 
sufficiently  explained  in  the  following  extract  from  the 
Doctor's  reply  : 

"PHILADELPHIA,  26th  November,  1785. 
"  DEAR  SIR  : 

"  I  received  your  kind  letter  of  September  5th,  inform 
ing  me  of  the  intention  Mr.  Dilly  has  of  printing  a  new 
edition  of  my  writings,  and  of  his  desire  that  I  would 
furnish  him  with  such  additions  as  I  may  think  proper. 
At  present  all  my  papers  and  manuscripts  are  so  mixed 
with  other  things,  by  the  confusions  occasioned  in  sudden 
and  various  removals  during  the  late  troubles,  that  I  can 
hardly  find  anything.  But  having  nearly  finished  an 

2* 


iS 

addition  to  my  house,  which  will  afford  me  room  to  put 
all  in  order,  I  hope  soon  to  be  able  to  comply  with  such 
a  request ;  but  I  hope  Mr.  Dilly  will  have  a  good  under 
standing  in  the  affair  with  Henry  &  Johnson,  who,  having 
risked  the  former  impressions,  may  suppose  they  thereby 
acquired  some  right  in  the  copy.  As  to  the  Life  pro 
posed  to  be  written,  if  it  be  by  the  same  hand  who  fur 
nished  a  sketch  to  Dr.  Lettsom,  which  he  sent  me,  I  am 
afraid  it  will  be  found  too  full  of  errors  for  either  you  or 
me  to  correct ;  and  having  been  persuaded  by  my  friends, 
Messrs.  Vaughan  and  M.  le  Veillard,  Mr.  James,  of  this 
place,  and  some  others,  that  such  a  Life  written  by  myself 
may  be  useful  to  the  rising  generation,  I  have  made  some 
progress  in  it,  and  hope  to  finish  it  this  winter ;  so  I 
cannot  but  wish  that  project  of  Mr.  Dilly's  biographer 
may  be  laid  aside.  I  am  nevertheless  thankful  to  you  for 
your  friendly  offer  of  correcting  it.*  ***** 

The  Doctor's  hopes  of  completing  the  Memoirs  during 
the  winter  of  1785  were  not  realized,  nor  did  he  resume 
work  upon  them  until  three  years  later. 

"As  to  the  little  history!  I  promised  you,"  he  writes  to 
his  friend,  Le  Veillard,  the  I5th  April,  1787,  "my  pur 
pose  still  continues  of  completing  it,  and  I  hoped  to  do 
it  this  summer,  having  built  an  addition  to  my  house,  in 
which  I  have  placed  my  library,  and  where  I  can  write 
without  being  disturbed  by  the  noise  of  the  children  ;  but 


*  Sparks'  Works  of  Franklin,  vol.  x.  p.  240. 

t  The  only  letter  we  have  from  M.  le  Veillard  bears  date,  Passy, 
Oct.  9,  1785.  He  says,  in  allusion  to  this  subject:  "I  hope  you  have 
been  industrious  during  your  passage,  and  that  you  have  finished  your 
Memoirs,  and  wilt  send  them  to  me."  Sparks'  Works  of  Franklin,  vol. 
x.  p.  231. 


19 

the  General  Assembly  having  lately  desired  my  assistance 
at  a  great  convention  to  be  held  in  May  next  for  amending 
the  Federal  Constitution,  I  begin  to  doubt  whether  I  can 
make  any  progress  in  it  till  that  business  is  over."  * 

In  the  same  letter  he  adds  farther  on  : 

"You  blame  me  for  writing  three  pamphlets  and  ne 
glecting  to  write  the  little  history :  you  should  consider 
they  were  written  at  sea,  out  of  my  own  head  ;  the  other 
could  not  so  well  be  written  there  for  want  of  the  docu 
ments  that  could  only  be  had  here." 

On  the  24th  of  October,  1788,  the  Doctor  writes  to  M. 
le  Veillard  as  follows  : 

"  I  have  been  much  afflicted  the  last  summer  with  a 
long-continued  fit  of  the  gout,  which  I  am  not  quite  clear 
of,  though  much  better ;  my  other  malady  is  not  aug 
mented.  I  have  lately  made  great  progress  in  the  work 
you  so  urgently  demand,  and  have  come  as  far  as  my  fif 
tieth  year.  Being  now  free  from  public  business,  as  my 
term  in  the  Presidentship  is  expired,  and  resolving  to 
engage  in  no  other  public  employment,  I  expect  to  have 
it  finished  in  about  two  months,  if  illness  or  some  unfore 
seen  interruption  does  not  prevent.  I  do  not,  therefore, 
send  a  part  at  this  time,  thinking  it  better  to  retain  the 
whole  till  I  can  view  it  all  together,  and  make  the  proper 
corrections.''! 

William  Temple  Franklin  also  writes  on  the  i7th  of 
November,  1788: 

"  Our  new  government  goes  on   in   its  way.     Many 


*  Le   Veillard    Collection.      For  the   entire    letter,    see   Appendix, 
No.  2. 
t  Ibid.     For  the  entire  letter,  see  Appendix,  No.  3. 


20 


States  have  elected  their  Senators.  The  people  are  soon 
to  elect  their  representatives.  It  is  in  March  next  they 
should  meet.  There  is  but  one  voice  for  the  President- 
General,  the  illustrious  Washington.  In  respect  to  the 
Vice  President,  opinions  are  shared  between  General 
Knox,  Messrs.  Hancock,  Adams,  &c.  My  grandfather 
having  served  the  three  years  as  President  of  this  State, 
Genl.  Mifflin  has  been  elected  in  his  place.  My  grand 
father  now  calls  himself  a  free  man,  and  I  believe  it 
would  be  difficult  to  induce  him  to  change  his  condition. 
No  one  could  more  enjoy  his  liberty  and  repose.  He  is 
now  occupied  in  writing  the  continuation  of  his  life,  which 
you  have  so  urgently  desired  of  him.  His  health  improves 
every  day.  Farewell,  my  friend.  Recall  me  to  the  recol 
lection  of  all  our  common  friends,  and  say  a  thousand 
tender  things  to  all  your  family.  I  write  to  your  son. 

"  W.  T.  F."* 

In  three  other  letters  to  M.  le  Veillard,  written  during 
the  year  1788,  Dr.  Franklin  alludes  to  his  promise  and 
his  reasons  for  not  having  hitherto  been  able  to  keep  it. 
Under  date  of  February  17,  1788,  he  writes: 

"  I  should  have  proceeded  in  the  history  you  mention, 
if  I  could  well  have  avoided  accepting  the  chair  of  Presi 
dent  for  this  third  and  last  year ;  to  which  I  was  again 
elected  by  the  unanimous  voice  of  the  Council  and 
General  Assembly  in  November.  If  I  live  to  see  this 
year  expire,  I  may  enjoy  some  leisure,  which  I  promise 
you  to  employ  in  the  work  you  do  me  the  honor  to  urge 
so  earnestly ."f 


*  Le  Veillard  Collection.     See  Appendix,  No.  4. 
t  Sparks'  Works  of  Franklin,  vol.  x.  p.  336. 


21 


Scarcely  two  months  later,  and  under  date  of  April 
22,  he  writes  again  : 

"  I  received  but  a  few  days  since  your  favor  of  Nov. 
30,  1787,  in  which  you  continue  to  urge  me  to  finish  the 
Memoirs.  My  three  years  of  service  will  expire  in  Octo 
ber,  when  a  new  President  must  be  chosen,  and  I  had  the 
project  of  retiring  then  to  my  grandson's  estate,  in  New 
Jersey,  where  I  might  be  free  from  the  interruption  of 
visits,  in  order  to  complete  that  work  for  your  satisfaction  ; 
for  in  this  city  my  time  is  so  cut  to  pieces  by  friends  and 
strangers,  that  I  have  sometimes  envied  the  prisoners  in 
Bastille.  But  considering  now  the  little  remnant  of  life  I 
have  left,  the  accidents  that  may  happen  between  this  and 
October,  and  your  earnest  desire,  I  have  come  to  the  reso 
lution  to  proceed  in  that  work  to-morrow,  and  continue  it 
daily  till  finished,  which,  if  my  health  permits,  may  be  in 
the  course  of  the  ensuing  summer.  As  it  goes  on  I  will 
have  a  copy  made  for  you,  and  you  may  expect  to  receive 
a  part  by  the  next  packet."* 

About  six  weeks  after  the  foregoing,  and  under  date  of 
June  6,  he  writes  again  : 

"  Eight  States  have  now  agreed  to  the  proposed  new 
Constitution  ;  there  remain  five  who  have  not  yet  dis 
cussed  it,  their  appointed  times  of  meeting  not  having 
yet  arrived.  Two  are  to  meet  this  month  ;  the  rest  later. 
One  more  agreeing,  it  will  be  carried  into  execution. 
Probably  some  will  not  agree  at  present,  but  time  may 
bring  them  in  ;  so  that  we  have  little  doubt  of  its  be 
coming  general,  perhaps  with  some  corrections.  As  to 
your  friend's  taking  a  share  in  the  management  of  it ;  his 


*  Sparks'  Works  of  Franklin,  vol.  x.  p.  345. 


22 

age  and  infirmities  render  him  unfit  for  the  business,  as 
the  business  would  be  for  him.  After  the  expiration  of 
the  term  of  his  Presidentship,  which  will  now  be  in  a  few 
months,  he  is  determined  to  engage  no  more  in  public 
affairs  even  if  required  ;  but  his  countrymen  will  be  too 
reasonable  to  require  it.  You  are  not  so  considerate. 
You  are  a  hard  taskmaster.  You  insist  on  his  writing  his 
life,  already  a  long  work,  and  at  the  same  time  would 
have  him  continually  employed  in  augmenting  the  sub 
ject,  while  the  term  shortens  in  which  the  work  is  to  be 
executed."* 

The  Doctor  did  resume  the  Memoirs  in  17885  and 
probably  wrote  about  this  time  all  of  the  remainder  that 
has  hitherto  been  published  in  English.  It  appears,  how 
ever,  from  the  following  passage  in  a  letter  to  M.  le 
Veillard,  dated  September  5,  1789,  that  he  had  then 
abandoned  all  hope  of  completing  the  Memoirs,  and  was 
making  arrangements  to  transmit  a  copy  of  what  was 
done,  to  M.  le  Veillard  and  to  Mr.  Vaughan.  Whether 
he  intended  one  for  each  or  for  both  is  not  quite  certain  : 

"  I  hope  you  have  perfectly  recovered  of  your  fall  at 
Madame  Helvetius's,  and  that  you  now  enjoy  perfect 
health  ;  as  to  mine,  I  can  give  you  no  good  account.  I 
have  a  long  time  been  afflicted  with  almost  constant  and 
grievous  pain,  to  combat  which  I  have  been  obliged  to 
have  recourse  to  opium,  which  indeed  has  afforded  me 
some  ease  from  time  to  time,  but  then  it  has  taken  away 
my  appetite,  and  so  impeded  my  digestion  that  I  am 
become  totally  emaciated,  and  little  remains  of  me  but  a 
skeleton  covered  with  a  skin.  In  this  situation,  I  have 


*  Sparks'  Works  of  Franklin,  vol.  x.  p.  349. 


23 

not  been  able  to  continue  my  Memoirs,  and  now  I  sup 
pose  I  shall  never  finish  them.  Benjamin  has  made  a 
copy  of  what  is  done  for  you,  which  shall  be  sent  by  the 
first  safe  opportunity."* 

Shortly  before  this  letter  was  written — on  the  gel  of 
June  of  that  year — the  Doctor  wrote  to  his  friend 
Vaughan,  who,  it  appears,  had  been  urging  him  to  go  on 
with  the  Memoirs : 

u  I  received  your  kind  letter  of  March  4th,  and  wish  I 
may  be  able  to  complete  what  you  so  earnestly  desire — • 
the  Memoirs  of  my  life.  But  of  late  I  am  so  interrupted 
by  extreme  pain,  which  obliges  me  to  have  recourse  to 
opium,  that,  between  the  effects  of  both,  I  have  but  little 
time  in  which  I  can  write  anything.  My  grandson,  how 
ever,  is  copying  what  is  done,  which  will  be  sent  to  you 
for  your  opinion  by  the  next  vessel ;  and  not  merely  for 
your  opinion,  but  for  your  advice  ;  for  it  is  a  difficult  task 
to  speak  decently  and  properly  of  one's  own  conduct ; 
and  I  feel  the  want  of  a  judicious  friend  to  encourage  me 
in  scratching  out."  t 

On  the  zd  of  November  he  writes  again  to  Mr. 
Vaughan  in  the  same  desponding  strain  of  his  health, 
though  still  more  hopeful  of  continuing  the  Memoirs 
than  he  appeared  when  he  wrote  the  letter  last  cited  to 
M.  le  Veillard : 

"  I  thank  you  much  for  your  intimations  of  the  virtues 
of  hemlock  ;  but  I  have  tried  so  many  things  with  so  little 
effect  that  I  am  quite  discouraged,  and  have  no  longer 
any  faith  in  remedies  for  the  stone.  The  palliating  system 


*  Le  Veillard  Collection,  Appendix,  No.  5. 
t  Sparks'  Works  of  Franklin,  vol.  x.  p.  393. 


24 

is  what  I  am  now  fixed  in.  Opium  gives  me  ease  when 
I  am  attacked  by  pain,  and  by  the  use  of  it  I  still  make 
life  tolerable.  Not  being  able,  however,  to  bear  sitting  to 

rite,  I  now  make  use  of  the  hand  of  one  of  my  grand 
sons,  dictating  to  him  from  my  bed.  I  wish,  indeed,  I 
had  tried  this  method  sooner ;  for  so  I  think  I  might  by 
this  time  have  finished  my  Memoirs,  in  which  I  have 
made  no  progress  for  these  six  months  past.  I  have  now 
taken  the  resolution  to  endeavor  completing  them  in  this 
way  of  dictating  to  an  amanuensis.  What  is  already 
done  I  now  send  you,  with  an  earnest  request  that  you 
and  my  good  friend,  Dr.  Price,  would  be  so  good  as  to 
take  the  trouble  of  reading  it,  critically  examining  it,  and 
giving  me  your  candid  opinion  whether  I  had  best  pub 
lish  or  suppress  it ;  and  if  the  first,  then  what  parts  had 
best  be  expunged  or  altered.  I  shall  rely  upon  your 
opinions ;  for  I  am  now  grown  so  old  and  feeble  in  mind, 
as  well  as  body,  that  I  cannot  place  any  confidence  in  my 
own  judgment.  In  the  mean  time,  I  desire  and  expect 
that  you  will  not  suffer  any  copy  of  it,  or  of  any  part  of  it, 
to  be  taken  for  any  purpose  whatever."* 

This  was  the  last  allusion  to  the  Memoirs  of  which  I 
find  any  trace  in  the  Doctor's  correspondence.  The  only 
evidence,  beyond  the  promise  contained  in  his  letter  of 
the  3d  of  June,  that  he  sent  a  copy  to  Mr.  Vaughan,  is  a 
statement  made  by  the  Due  de  la  Rochefoucault  in  a  eulo- 
gium  which  he  pronounced  before  a  society  in  Paris  on 
the  i3th  of  June,  1789.  In  this  discourse  he  says: 

"  The  most  voluminous  of  his  works  is  the  historv  of 


Sparks'  Works  of  Franklin,  vol.  x.  p.  397. 


35 

his  own  life,  which  he  commenced  for  the  use  of  his  son, 
and  for  the  continuation  of  which  we  are  indebted  to  the 
ardent  solicitations  of  Monsieur  le  Veillard,  one  of  his 
most  intimate  friends.  It  employed  his  leisure  hours 
during  the  latter  part  of  his  life  ;  but  the  bad  state  of  his 
health  and  his  excruciating  pains,  which  gave  him  little 
respite,  frequently  interrupted  his  work ;  and  the  two 
copies — one  of  which  was  sent  by  him  to  London,  to  Dr. 
Price  and  Mr.  Vaughan,  and  the  other  to  Monsieur  le 
Veillard  and  me — reach  no  farther  than  the  year  1757. 
He  speaks  of  himself  as  he  would  have  done  of  another 
person,  delineating  his  thoughts,  his  actions,  and  even  his 
errors  and  faults ;  and  he  describes  the  unfolding  of  his 
genius  and  talents  with  the  simplicity  of  a  great  man, 
who  knows  how  to  do  justice  to  himself,  and  with  the 
testimony  of  a  clear  conscience,  void  of  reproach  and 

4  of  offence  toward  God  and  toward  man.' 

******* 

His  Memoirs,  gentlemen,  will  be  published  as  soon  as  we 
receive  from  America  the  additions  he  may  have  made  to 
the  manuscript  in  our  possession  ;  and  we  then  intend  to 
give  a  complete  collection  of  his  works." 

The  Duke  had  evidently  derived  his  information  in 
regard  to  the  Memoirs  exclusively  from  the  letter  last 
cited  to  M.  le  Veillard. 

The  Doctor  died  in  a  little  less  than  six  months  after 
his  letter  of  the  zd  of  November  to  Mr.  Vaughan.  By  his 
will,  made  in  the  summer  of  1788,  he  bequeathed  his  books, 
manuscripts,  and  papers,  after  deducting  a  few  special  be 
quests,  to  his  grandson,  William  Temple  Franklin.  Among 
the  manuscripts  was  the  original  text  of  these  Memoirs. 

On  the  22d  of  May,  Wm.  Temple  wrote  M.  le  Veil- 
3  B 


26 

lard,  announcing  his  grandfather's  death  and  the  interest 
he  had  acquired  in  the  Memoirs,  which  might  be  said  to 
have  owed  their  existence  to  M.  le  Veillard's  perti 
nacity  ;  his  intention  to  prepare  them  for  publication,  and 
requesting  M.  le  Veillard  to  show  them  to  no  one  unless 
to  the  Academician  who  should  be  charged  to  make  the 
eulogy  of  the  deceased,  and  to  permit  no  one  to  take  a 
copy  of  what  had  been  sent  him.  He  adds  that  he  him 
self  has  the  original.  This  letter  was  written  in  French.* 

"PHILADELPHIA,  22  May,  1790. 

"  You  have  already  learned,  my  dear  friend,  the  loss 
which  you  and  I,  and  the  world,  have  experienced,  in  the 
death  of  this  good  and  amiable  papa.  Although  we  have 
long  expected  it,  we  were  none  the  less  shocked  by  it 
when  it  arrived.  He  loved  you  very  tenderly,  as  he  did 
all  your  family,  and  I  do  not  doubt  you  will  share  my  just 
sorrow.  I  intended  writing  you  the  details  of  his  death 
by  M.  de  Chaumont,  but  the  duty  of  arranging  his 
affairs,  and  especially  his  papers,  prevents  my  answering 
your  last,  as  well  as  the  one  which  your  daughter  was 
pleased  to  write  me,  accompanying  her  work.  I  have 
been  touched  with  this  mark  of  her  condescension  and 
friendship,  and  I  beg  you  to  testify  to  her  my  gratitude 
until  I  have  an  opportunity  of  writing  to  her,  which  will 
certainly  be  by  the  first  occasion  for  France.  Now,  as  I 
am  about  writing,  her  goodness  will  awaken  me.  This 
letter  will  reach  you  by  way  of  England. 

"  I  feel  it  my  duty  to  profit  by  this  occasion  to  inform 
you  that  my  grandfather,  among  other  legacies,  has  left 
all  his  papers  and  manuscripts  to  me,  with  permission  to 


Le  Veillard  Collection.     For  the  original  see  Appendix,  No.  6. 


27 

turn  them  to  what  profit  I  can.  Consequently,  I  beg  you, 
my  dear  friend,  to  show  to  no  one  that  part  of  his  Life 
which  he  sent  you  some  time  since,  lest  some  one  copy 
and  publish  it,  which  would  infinitely  prejudice  the  pub 
lication  which  I  propose  to  make  as  soon  as  possible,  of 
his  entire  Life  and  of  his  other  works.  As  I  have  the 
original  here  of  the  part  which  you  have,  it  will  not  be 
necessary  for  you  to  send  it  to  me,  but  I  beg  you  at  all 
events  to  put  it  in  an  envelope,  well  sealed,  addressed  to 
me,  in  order  that  by  no  accident  it  may  get  into  other 
hands. 

"  If,  however,  it  should  be  necessary  to  assist  the  person 
who  will  pronounce  his  eulogy  at  the  Academy,  you  may 
lend  it  for  that  purpose,  with  the  stipulation  that  no  copy 
of  it  shall  be  made,  and  with  such  other  precautions  as 
you  deem  necessary.  The  foreign  representatives  of  our 
Government  have  not  yet  been  named.  It  is  possible  I 
may  be  one,  which  would  put  me  in  the  way  to  assist  in 
the  publication  of  my  grandfather's  works  ;  but  even  if 
they  think  no  more  of  me,  it  is  very  probable  that  I  shall 
conclude  to  go  to  Europe,  inasmuch  as  I  am  persuaded  I 
can  derive  more  advantage  from  the  publication  in  Eng 
land  or  in  France  than  in  this  country. 

"  Adieu  for  the  present.  In  two  or  three  weeks  I  hope 
to  be  able  to  write  to  you  directly,  as  well  as  to  my  other 
friends,  male  and  female,  in  France.  Love  me,  my  dear 
friend.  I  have  more  need  than  ever  of  your  friendship. 

"W.  T.  FRANKLIN." 

In  the  course  of  a  few  months  after  this  letter  was 
written,  William  Temple  Franklin  arrived  in  London, 
where  he  pretended  to  be  engaged  in  preparing  an  edition 


28 


of  the  Life  and  works  of  his  grandfather,  which  he  then 
expected  to  have  ready  in  the  course  of  the  year.  But  it 
was  ordained  that  this  pre-eminently  American  work 
should  be  first  presented  to  the  world  in  a  foreign  tongue. 
A  French  translation  appeared  at  Paris  in  1791.*  It  em 
braced  only  the  first  eighty-seven  pages  of  the  manuscript. 
In  his  preface  the  editor  seems  to  question  the  good  faith 
of  William  Temple's  promise  to  publish  the  Memoirs 
entire.  As  this  preface  is  not  readily  accessible,  and  as  it 
constitutes  an  important  link  in  the  history  of  this  manu 
script,  I  need  offer  no  apology  for  giving  it  entire : 

"  I  shall  not  enter  into  an  uninteresting  detail  relative 
to  the  manner  in  which  the  original  manuscript  of  these 
Memoirs,  which  are  written  in  the  English  language, 
came  into  my  possession.  They  appeared  to  me  to  be  so 
interesting  that  I  did  not  hesitate  a  single  moment  to 
translate  them  into  French. 

"  The  name  of  Franklin  will  undoubtedly  become  a 
passport  to  a  work  of  this  nature,  and  the  character  of 
truth  and  simplicity  discernible  in  every  page  must  guar 
antee  its  authenticity.  I  have  no  manner  of  occasion  to 
join  other  testimonies. 

"  If,  however,  any  critic  chooses  to  disbelieve  my  asser 
tion,  and  is  desirous  to  bring  the  existence  of  the  original 
manuscript  into  doubt,  I  am  ready  to  verify  it  by  means 
of  an  immediate  impression  ;j-  but  as  I  am  not  certain 


*  Memoires  de  la  vie  privee  cle  Benjamin  Franklin,  ecrits  par  lui 
meme  et  addressees  a  son  fils,  suivis  d'un  precis  historique  de  la  vie 
politique,  et  de  plusieurs  pieces,  relatives,  a  ce  pere  de  la  liberte.  A 
Paris,  chez  Buisson,  Libraire,  Rue  Hautefeuille,  No.  20.  1791. 

t  "Those  who  may  be  desirous  of  reading  the  Memoirs  of  the  public 
life  of  Franklin  in  the  original  are  requested  to  leave  their  names  with 
Buisson,  bookseller,  Rue  Hautefeuille,  No.  20.  The  work  will  be  sent 


29 

of  the  sale  of  a  work  written  in  a  foreign  language,  I 
cannot  publish  it  in  any  other  manner  than  by  means  of  a 
subscription  large  enough  to  indemnify  me  for  the  money 
advanced. 

u  That  part  of  the  Memoirs  of  Franklin  in  my  posses 
sion  includes  no  more  than  the  first  period  of  a  life,  the 
remainder  of  which  has  become  illustrious  by  events  of 
the  highest  importance  ;  it  terminates  at  the  epoch  when, 
after  having  married,  he  began  to  render  himself  cele 
brated  by  plans  and  establishments  of  public  utility. 

"  It  is  very  possible  that  he  may  have  written  more  of 
his  history  ;  for  the  portion  of  it  which  I  now  present  to 
the  public  concludes,  according  to  his  own  account,  with 
the  year  \^^\* 

u  If  this  be  the  case,  the  heirs  of  that  great  man  will 
not  fail  some  day  to  publish  it,  either  in  England  or  in 
Pennsylvania,  and  we  shall  doubtless  have  a  French  trans 
lation,  which  will  be  received  by  the  public  with  great 
eagerness  ;  but  I  am  persuaded  that  his  family  will  not 
disclose  any  other  than  the  most  brilliant  period  of  his 
life — that  which  is  connected  writh  the  memorable  part  he 
acted  in  the  world,  both  as  a  philosopher  and  a  statesman. 
They  will  never  be  prevailed  upon  to  narrate  the  humble 
details  of  his  early  days  and  the  simple  but  interesting 
anecdotes  of  his  origin,  the  obscurity  of  which,  although 
it  enhances  the  talents  and  the  virtues  of  this  great  man, 
may  yet  wound  their  own  vanity. 


to  the  press  as  soon  as  there  are  400  subscribers.     The  price  is  48  sols 
(or  cents)." 

*  This  date  is  erroneous.     Dr.  Franklin  commenced  writing  his  Me 
moirs  in  1771,  but  in  the  portion  of  his  Memoirs  published  in  1791  he 
did  not  bring  down  the  narrative  of  his  life  beyond  the  year  1730. 
3* 


30 

u  If  my  conjecture  prove  right ;  if  the  Memoirs  which 
they  are  about  to  publish  under  the  name  of  Franklin 
should  be  mutilated  ;  if  the  first  part,  so  essential  to  read 
ers  capable  of  feeling  and  judging,  should  be  suppressed, 
I  shall  applaud  myself  for  having  preserved  it ;  and  the 
world  will  be  obliged  to  me  for  having  enabled  them  to 
follow  the  early  developments  of  the  genius,  and  the  first 
exertions  of  the  sublime  and  profound  mind  of  a  man  who 
afterward  penetrated  the  mystery  of  electricity  and  dis 
covered  the  secret  measures  of  despotism — who  preserved 
the  universe  from  the  ravages  of  thunder,  and  his  native 
country  from  the  horrors  of  tyranny  ! 

"  If  I  am  accidentally  mistaken,  if  the  life  of  Franklin 
should  appear  entire,  the  public  will  still  have  the  advan 
tage  of  anticipating  the  interesting  part  of  a  history  which 
it  has  long  and  impatiently  expected. 

"  The  principal  object  proposed  by  the  American  phi 
losopher  in  writing  these  Memoirs  was,  to  instruct  pos 
terity  and  amuse  his  own  leisure  hours.  He  has  permitted 
his  ideas  to  flow  at  the  will  of  his  memory  and  his  heart, 
without  ever  making  any  effort  to  disguise  the  truth,  not 
withstanding  it  is  not  always  very  flattering  to  his  self- 
love — but  I  here  stop  ;  it  belongs  to  Franklin  to  speak  for 
himself. 

"  It  will  be  easily  perceived  that  I  have  preserved  as 
much  as  possible  the  ease  and  simplicity  of  his  style  in 
my  translation.  I  have  not  even  affected  to  correct  the 
negligence  of  his  language,  or  to  clothe  his  sentiments 
with  a  gaudy  dress,  for  which  they  have  no  manner  of 
occasion  ;  I  should  have  been  afraid  of  bereaving  the  work 
of  one  of  its  principal  ornaments. 

uAs  these  Memoirs  reach  no  farther  than  his  marriage, 


31 

I  have  made  use  of  other  materials  in  order  to  complete 
so  interesting  a  history,  and  I  have  also  added  a  number 
of  anecdotes  and  remarks  relative  to  this  philosophical 
American.  THE  EDITOR." 

Querard*  attributes  this  translation  to  a  Dr.  Jaques 
Gibelin,  who,  it  appears,  was  a  naturalist  of  some  repute  ; 
had  been  occasionally  in  England ;  had  translated  from 


*  Querard,  La  France  Litteraire. 

M.  de  Senarmont  seems  to  have  been  under  the  impression  that  this 
translation  was  made  by  M.  le  Veillard.  This  M.  le  Veillard  himself 
most  distinctly  denied  in  a  note  which  he  communicated  to  the  "  Journal 
de  Paris,"  in  1791,  No.  83,  of  which  the  following  is  a  translation : 

"  PASSY,  near  Paris,  2ist  March,  1791. 

"  Shortly  before  his  death,  Mr.  Franklin  sent  me  the  Memoirs  of  his 
life,  written  by  himself,  and  I  have  only  deferred  the  publication  of  them 
out  of  respect  for  his  family,  and  especially  for  Wm.  Temple  Franklin, 
his  grandson,  to  whom  his  grandfather  has  left  all  his  manuscripts.  He 
proposes  to  make  a  complete  edition,  as  well  in  French  as  in  English, 
in  which  he  wilt  insert  my  translation.  He  is  now  in  England,  occu 
pied  with  this  work,  and  is  expected  in  France,  in  a  few  days,  to  com 
plete  it. 

"  Buisson,  a  bookseller  in  the  Rue  Hautefeuille,  has  published  a 
volume  in  8vo.,  entitled  Memoires  de  la  Vie  Privee  de  Benjamin  Franklin, 
tcrits  par  lui-me'ine  et  addressees  a  son  fils.  The  first  156  pages  of  this 
volume  contain  in  effect  the  commencement  of  the  Memoirs  of  Dr. 
Franklin,  almost  entirely  conforming  to  the  manuscript  which  I  possess. 
I  do  not  know  by  what  means  the  translator  has  procured  them,  but  I 
declare  and  think  it  ought  to  be  known  that  he  did  not  have  them  from 
me ;  that  I  had  no  part  in  the  translation ;  that  this  fragment,  which 
ends  in  1730,  is  scarcely  a  third  of  what  I  have,  which  only  comes  down 
to  1757,  and  which  consequently  does  not  terminate  this  work,  the  re 
mainder  of  which  is  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  W.  T.  Franklin,  who  will  plan 
his  edition  so  that  the  complete  Memoirs  of  Franklin  will  form  one  or 

two  volumes,  which  may  be  obtained  separately. 

"  LE  VEILLARD." 


32 

English  philosophical  writers,  Priestly  among  others,  and 
had  made  an  abridgment  of  the  Phil.  Trans,  of  the  Royal 
Society,  &c.  How  he  obtained  possession  of  the  English 
manuscript  is  a  mystery  which  will  probably  never  be 
solved.* 

The  following  letter  from  William  Temple  Franklin, 
in  London,  to  M.  le  Veillard,  was  written  in  the  spring  of 
1^91,  but  subsequent  to  the  appearance  of  the  French 
translation.  He  represents  himself  as  still  engaged  upon 
the  Life  and  works  of  his  grandfather,  which  he  pretended 
would  be  ready  for  the  press  in  a  few  weeks : 

"  LONDON,  22  April,  1791. 

"  I  received  last  night,  my  dear  friend,  your  letter  of 
the  1 2th  inst.  I  am  as  sensible  as  you  can  be  of  the  ad 
vantage  that  would  result  from  my  being  at  present  in 


*  The  relations  of  literary  comity  which  must  have  subsisted  between 
Gibelin  and  many  of  Franklin's  English  friends  whose  works  he  had 
translated,  naturally  leads  to  the  suspicion  that  the  copy  promised  Mr. 
Vaughan,  if  ever  made  and  sent,  may  in  some  way  have  fallen  into 
Gibelin's  hands.  If  so,  Mr.  Vaughan  must  have  construed  the  Doctor's 
injunction,  not  to  permit  "a  copy  of  the  MS.  to  be  taken  for  any  pur 
pose  whatever,"  to  have  been  removed  by  his  death.  If  such  was  the 
case,  however,  why  did  he  not  produce  an  English  edition  ? 

In  a  notice  which  Cabanis  prepared  shortly  after  the  news  of  Dr. 
Franklin's  death  reached  Paris,  the  following  allusion  is  made  to  this 
edition  of  the  Memoirs  : 

"  Benjamin  Franklin,  s'est  peint  lui-meme  dans  des  Memoires  dont  il 
n'a  paru  jusq'ici  qu'un  fragment ;  mais  ce  sont  ses  ennemis  ou  des  pen- 
sionnaires  du  cabinet  de  Saint  James  qui  1'ont  public.  Us  y  ont  joint 
de  plates  notes  auxquelles  la  famille  aurait  du  repondre  plus  tot  par  la 
publication  du  reste  de  1'ouvrage.  En  attendant  qu'elle  remplisse  ce 
devoir,  nous  allons  rassembler  ici  quelques  traits,  que  nous  avons  re- 
cueillis  de  la  bouche  meme  de  Franklin  dans  une  commerce  intime  de 
plusieurs  annees." — (Euvres  de  Cabanis,  vol.  v.  p.  221. 


33 

Paris,  and  I  can  assure  you  I  am  equally  desirous  of  it. 
But  business  of  the  last  importance,  and  that  interested 
me  personally,  has  hitherto  detained  me  here  ;  that,  how 
ever,  is  now  happily  completed,  and  I  am  at  present  con 
stantly  occupied  in  the  arrangement  of  my  late  grand 
father's  papers,  which  were  left  in  the  greatest  disorder ; 
whether  I  am  able  to  complete  this  or  not,  I  shall  certainly 
leave  London  for  Paris  in  the  course  of  a  fortnight.  But 
my  wish  is,  if  possible,  to  finish  this,  and  my  bargain  with 
the  booksellers,  before  I  set  off,  that  I  may  not  be  obliged 
to  return  hither  merely  on  that  account.  Were  it  only  the 
Life,  it  would  already  have  been  done  ;  but  I  wish  a  com 
plete  edition  of  his  works  to  appear  at  the  same  time,  and 
as  I  have  no  assistance,  the  necessary  preparations  are 
very  laborious.  I  am  very  sorry  that  any  part  of  the  Life 
should  have  already  appeared  in  France — however  imper 
fect,  which  I  understand  it  is.  I  have  endeavored,  and  I 
hope  effectually,  to  put  a  stop  to  a  translation  appearing 
here. 

"Adieu,  my  dear  friend;  all  will,  I  hope,  go  well. 
With  my  best  affections  to  all  your  family,  I  am,  as  ever 
and  for  ever, 

"  Sincerely  yours, 

W.  T.  FRANKLIN."* 

William  Temple's  apprehensions  of  an  English  trans 
lation  were  not  without  foundation. 

Strange  as  it  is  that  the  first  version  of  any  portion  of 
these  Memoirs  should  have  appeared  in  a  foreign  tongue, 
it  is  yet  more  remarkable  that  the  first  English  version 
should  have  been,  as  it  was,  a  translation  from  the  French. 


Le  Veillard  Collection. 
B* 


34 

It  appeared  in  London  in  1793,*  and  was  not  only  the 
only  English  version  in  print  until  1817,  but  continues  to 
this  day  to  be  republished  by  some  of  the  largest  houses, 
not  only  in  Europe,  but  in  America,  under  the  impres 
sion  that  it  is  both  genuine  and  complete.  What  meas 
ures  were  taken,  if  any,  to  prevent  the  appearance  of  an 
English  translation  have  not  transpired. 

William  Temple's  expectations  of  getting  to  Paris  in  a 
few  weeks  do  not  seem  to  have  been  realized  ;  for,  from 
the  following  letter  it  appears  that  nearly  two  months 
had  elapsed  and  he  was  still  in  London,  but  hoped  to  set 
out  for  France  before  the  end  of  the  month.  A  specula 
tion,  from  which  he  had  realized  £7,000,  is  assigned  as 
the  cause  of  his  delay.  He  professes  to  be  much  dis 
tressed  at  what  M.  le  Vcillard  had  suffered — in  what  way 
is  not  disclosed — from  his  not  arriving  in  Paris : 

"LONDON,  14  June,  1791. 

"  I  am  much  distressed,  my  dear  friend,  at  what  you 
say  you  suffer  from  my  not  arriving  in  Paris.  I  have 
been  wishing  to  be  there  as  much  as  you  could  wish  to 
see  me,  but  I  could  not  possibly  think  of  leaving  this, 
while  a  business  I  had  undertaken  was  pending  for  which 


*  "  The  Private  Life  of  the  late  Benjamin  Franklin,  LL.D.,  late  Min 
ister  Plenipotentiary  from  the  United  States  of  America  to  France,  etc., 
etc.,  etc.,  originally  written  by  himself,  and  now  translated  from  the 
French.  To  which  are  added  some  account  of  his  public  life,  a  variety 
of  anecdotes  concerning  him,  by  MM.  Brissot,  Condorcet,  Rochefou- 
cault,  Le  Roy,  etc.,  etc.,  and  the  Eulogium  of  M.  Fauchct,  Constitutional 
Bishop  of  the  Department  of  Calvados  and  a  Member  of  the  National 
Convention.  Eripuitfnlmen  Ctxlo,  mox  sceptra  tyrannis. — TURGOT.  A 
Paris  ce grand  homme  dans  notre  ancicn  regime  serait  reste  dans  P obsciirite ', 
continent  employer  le  fits  d^in  Chandelier.'1'1 — LE  ROY. 

London  :  Printed  for  J.  Parsons,  No.  31  Pater  Noster  Row.   1793. 


35 

I  rec'cl  a  salary  and  which,  being  now  completed,  affords 
me  a  profit  of  seven  thousand  pounds  sterling!  This, 
my  dear  friend,  has  hitherto  kept  me  here — having  only 
been  finally  terminated  on  the  nth  inst.  I  am  in  hopes 
you  will  think  my  excuse  for  staying  till  it  was  done  a 
good  one.  I  have  now  only  some  few  arrangements  to 
make  in  consequence  of  my  success,  and  shall  undoubt 
edly  be  with  you  before  the  conclusion  of  this  month. 
My  respects  to  your  family  and  all  inquiring  friends,  and 
believe  me  unalterably 

"  Yours, 

"W.  T.  FRANKLIN."* 

The  letter  which  follows,  dated  seven  months  later  than 
the  preceding,  authorizes  the  impression  that  William 
Temple  Franklin  had  entered  into  engagements  of  some 
sort  with  M.  le  Veillard  for  bringing  out  his  work  simul 
taneously  in  France  and  in  England.  If  so,  his  failure  to 
keep  those  engagements  furnish  a  natural  and  obvious 
explanation  of  the  sufferings  of  M.  le  Veillard,  referred 
to  in  the  preceding  letter  : 

"LONDON,  28  Feb.,  1792. 
"  MY  DEAR  FRIEND  : 

"  I  received  lately  your  favor  of  the  I2th  inst.,  and  pre 
vious  to  it,  the  one  you  mention  from  M.  Feuillet.  I  am 
exceedingly  sorry  that  gentleman  cannot  complete  the 
translation,  as  I  am  confident  it  would  have  been  well 
done  ;  however,  it  shall  not  retard  the  publication  of  such 
parts  as  are  translated  at  the  time  the  original  appears 


*  Le  Veillard  Collection. 


36 

here,  which  at  present  is  not  determined,  but  will  not  be 
delayed  longer  than  is  absolutely  necessary  for  the  arrange 
ment  of  the  materials.  This  might,  perhaps,  have  been 
done  sooner  had  I  been  better  calculated  for  the  business, 
or  had  not  my  fortune  required  my  attention  to  other  pur 
suits,  by  which  it  has  been  most  materially  benefited. 
Notwithstanding  the  opinion  you  entertain — that  I  have 
neglected  the  publication  in  question  for  business  less  im 
portant  (which,  by  the  way,  you  cannot  possibly  be  a 
judge  of) — I  can  assure  you  I  have  given  it  all  the  atten 
tion  I  could,  consistent  with  the  important  concerns  above 
alluded  to,  in  which  others  being  interested,  required  my 
first  and  most  diligent  care  ;  and,  however  I  may  have 
lost  something  by  not  publishing  sooner,  yet  it  has  been 
amply  compensated  by  those  pursuits  you  judge  less  im 
portant.  I  am  now  almost  entirely  employed  in  bringing 
forward  the  English  edition,  and  shall  not  leave  this  till  I 
have  put  it  into  such  a  train  as  not  to  require  my  pres 
ence  ;  but  this  will  take  up  more  time  than  you  are  aware 
of;  for  however  easy  it  may  be  to  bring  forward  a  bro 
chure,  it  is  no  small  labor  to  publish  a  voluminous  work  ; 
and  that,  too,  to  be  formed  out  of  materials  that  were  left 
in  the  greatest  confusion.  A  few  months  will,  I  hope, 
satisfy  your  impatience  and  the  public  curiosity.  When 
matters  are  in  good  train  here,  I  shall  immediately  repair 
to  Paris  to  forward  the  translation,  and  you  may  rely  on 
it  that  at  least  the  Life  shall  appear  the  same  day  in  Paris 
as  in  London  ;  sooner  I  see  not  the  necessity  for,  and  it 
might  expose  me  hereafter  to  some  difficulties  here  ;  as 
the  French  edition  appearing  previous  to  the  English,  a 
translation  might  be  printed  here  to  the  prejudice  of  my 
copy. 


37 

"  Adieu,  my  dearest  friend ;  remember  me,  in  the 
most  affectionate  manner,  to  Madame  le  Veillard,  and 
every  part  of  your  family,  and  believe  me,  as  ever  and 
for  ever, 

"  Sincerely  yours, 

"W.  T.  FRANKLIN. 

"  P.  S. — You  have  heard,  I  suppose,  of  the  nomination 
by  the  President  of  Mr.  Gouverneur  Morris  to  be  minister 
at  your  Court  ?  It  has,  however,  suffered  some  demur  in 
the  Senate,  and  has  not  been  yet  confirmed. 

"  I  have  no  doubt,  however,  but  it  will.  From  the  well- 
known  sentiments  of  Mr.  M.,  this  appointment  will  not, 
I  believe,  be  very  agreeable  to  the  National  Assembly. 
Mr.  Short  goes  to  Holland,  and  I  am  totally  neglected. 
I  shall  therefore  lose  no  time,  but  turn  my  attention  to 
other  pursuits."  * 

No  farther  correspondence  appears  to  have  passed  be 
tween  William  Temple  Franklin  and  M.  le  Veillard, 
though  the  latter  gentleman  was  living  till  1794.  The 
interruption  to  this  correspondence  was  probably  the  re 
sult  of  an  estrangement,  of  which  the  letters  cited  furnish 
some  premonitory  symptoms. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  cause  of  the  delay, 
William  Temple's  edition  did  not  appear,  as  has  been 
already  stated,  until  1817. 

But,  as  I  have  before  intimated,  this  cditio  princeps 
of  1817  was  not  printed  from  the  original  manuscripts, 
but  from  the  copy  presented  to  M.  le  Veillard.  The  evi- 


*  Le  Veillard  Collection. 


38 

tlence  of  this  may  be  found  in  the  omission  of  the  last 
eight  pages,  which  are  only  to  be  found  in  the  autograph, 
and  in  the  following  memorandum  inscribed  on  its' fly 
leaves  in  French  and  in  English,  in  the  handwriting,  I 
presume,  of  M.  de  Senarmont,  or  of  some  member  of  his 
family.  The  English  version  runs  as  follows  : 

"THE   LIFE   OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN, 

"WRITTEN  BY  HIMSELF. 
"  The  only  Manuscript  Entirely  of  his  own  Handwriting. 

"Dr.  Franklin,  when  Ambassador  in  France,  was 
very  intimate  with  M.  le  Veillard,  gentilhomme  ordi 
naire  du  Roi,  his  neighbor,  near  Paris.  He  presented 
his  friend  with  a  fine  copy  of  the  Memoirs  of  his  own 
life. 

"  When  William  Temple  Franklin,  Dr.  Franklin's  grand 
son,  came  to  Europe  in  order  to  publish  the  works  of  his 
illustrious  grandfather,  he  required  from  Mad.  le  Veillard 
(M.  le  Veillard  had  perished  on  the  Revolutionary  scaf 
fold)  the  correct  and  fine  copy  given  by  his  grandfather, 
as  more  convenient  for  the  printer.  '  If  I  give  it  to  you, 
I  shall  have  nothing  more  of  our  friend.'  '  I  will  give 
you,  in  place  of  the  copy,  the  original  manuscript  of  my 
grandfather.' 

"In  this  manner  the  original  and  only  manuscript  came 
by  inheritance  into  the  hands  of  M.  dc  Senarmont,  M.  le 
Veillard's  grand-nephew." 

The  precise  time  when  the  exchange  here  referred  to 
was  made  does  not  appear,  but  the  following  paragraph 
from  Sir  Samuel  Romilly's  Diary  of  a  Visit  to  France  in 
1802,  informs  us  that  he  was  shown  the  autograph  ;  that 


39 

the  copy  originally  furnished  to  M.  le  Veillard,  and  after 
ward  given  to  William  T.  Franklin,  was  made  by  a 
copying-press,  and  that  that  copy  was  exchanged  for  the 
original  previous  to  Romilly's  visit  in  1802  : 

u  Sept  7.  Mad.  Gautier  procured  for  me  the  reading  of 
the  original  manuscript  of  Dr.  Franklin's  Life.  There 
are  only  two  copies — this,  and  one  which  Dr.  Franklin 
took  with  a  machine  for  copying  letters,  and  which  is  in 
possession  of  his  grandson.  Franklin  gave  the  manu 
script  to  M.  le  Veillard,  of  Passy,  who  was  guillotined 
during  the  Revolution.  Upon  his  death  it  came  into  the 
hands  of  his  daughter  or  grand-daughter,  Mad'lle  le  Veil 
lard,  who  is  the  present  possessor  of  it.  It  appears  evi 
dently  to  be  the  first  draught  written  by  Franklin,  for  in 
a  great  many  places  the  word  originally  written  is  erased 
with  a  pen,  and  a  word  nearly  synonymous  substituted  in 
its  place,  not  over  the  other  but  further  on,  so  as  mani 
festly  to  show  that  the  correction  was  made  at  the  time 
of  the  original  composition.  The  manuscript  contains  a 
great  many  additions  made  upon  a  very  wide  margin  ; 
but  I  did  not  find  that  a  single  passage  was  anywhere 
struck  out.  Part  of  the  work,  but  not  quite  half  of  it, 
has  been  translated  into  French,  and  from  French  re 
translated  into  English.  The  Life  comes  down  no  lower 
than  to  the  year  1757."  * 

The  omission  of  the  eight  pages  which  conclude  the 
manuscript,  and  which  constitute  one  of  the  most  precious 
chapters  of  this  famous  fragment,  is  susceptible  of  the 
following  explanation : 

William   Temple  Franklin    exchanged   the   autograph 


*  Life  of  Romilly,  3d  ed,  vol.  i.  p.  408. 


4° 

manuscript  for  the  copy  sent  to  M.  le  Veillard,  without 
being  aware  that,  between  the  time  that  copy  was  made 
and  its  author's  death,  these  pages  had  been  added.  Pre 
suming  they  were  the  same,  probably  he  did  not  compare 
them,  and  thus  overlooked  one  of  the  most  precious  chap 
ters  of  this  famous  fragment. 

William  Temple  Franklin's  delay  in  the  publication  of 
the  Memoirs,  twenty-seven  years  after  the  death  of  their 
author,  cannot  be  so  satisfactorily  accounted  for. 

It  brought  a  reproach  upon  our  country  for  the  lack  of 
"  literary  enterprise  and  activity,"  of  which  it  was  thought 
to  convict  us,  and  was  also  attributed,  in  part,  to  motives 
not  entirely  honorable  to  the  person  directly  responsible 
for  the  delay.  The  Edinbtirgh  Review  gave  the  most 
solemn  expression  to  the  public  discontent  in  a  review 
of  the  three-volume  edition  of  Franklin's  Works  and 
Memoirs,  published  by  Johnson  &  Longman,  of  London, 
in  1806.* 

In  the  first  two  paragraphs  of  this  article  the  writer 
says: 

"  Nothing,  we  think,  can  show  more  clearly  the  singu 
lar  want  of  literary  enterprise  or  activity  in  the  States  of 
America  than  that  no  one  has  yet  been  found  in  that 
flourishing  republic  to  collect  and  publish  the  works  of 
their  only  philosopher.  It  is  not  even  very  creditable  to 
the  literary  curiosity  of  the  English  public  that  there 
should  have  been  no  complete  edition  of  the  writings  of 
Dr.  Franklin  till  the  year  1806  ;  and  we  should  have  been 
altogether  unable  to  account  for  the  imperfect  and  un 
satisfactory  manner  in  which  the  work  has  now  been  per- 


*  See  Edinburgh  Revieiv,  July,  1806. 


formed,  if  it  had  not  been  for  a  statement  in  a  prefatory 
advertisement,  which  removes  all  blame  from  the  editor 
to  attach  it  to  a  higher  quarter.  It  is  there  stated  that 
recently,  after  the  death  of  the  author,  his  grandson,  to 
whom  all  his  papers  had  been  bequeathed,  made  a  voyage 
to  London  for  the  purpose  of  preparing  and  disposing  of 
a  complete  collection  of  all  his  published  and  unpublished 
writings,  with  Memoirs  of  his  life  brought  down  by  him 
self  to  the  year  i757'  an(^  continued  to  his  death  by  his 
descendant.  It  was  settled  that  the  work  should  be  pub 
lished  in  three  quarto  volumes  in  England,  Germany 
and  France,  and  a  negotiation  was  commenced  with  the 
booksellers  as  to  the  terms  of  purchase  and  publication. 
At  this  stage  of  the  business,  however,  the  proposals 
were  suddenly  withdrawn,  and  nothing  more  has  been 
heard  of  the  work  in  this  its  fair  and  natural  market. 

"  The  proprietor,  it  seems,  had  found  a  bidder  of  a  dif 
ferent  description  in  some  emissary  of  government, 
whose  object  was  to  'withhold  the  manuscripts  from  the 
world,  not  to  benefit  it  by  their  publication  ;  and  they 
thus  either  passed  into  other  hands,  or  the  person  to 
whom  they  were  bequeathed  received  a  remuneration  for 
suppressing  them. 

u  If  this  statement  be  correct,  we  have  no  hesitation  in 
saying  that  no  emissary  of  government  was  ever  em 
ployed  on  a  more  miserable  and  unworthy  service.  It  is 
ludicrous  to  talk  of  the  danger  of  disclosing,  in  1795,  any 
secrets  of  State  with  regard  to  the  war  of  American  Inde 
pendence  ;  and  as  to  any  anecdotes  or  observations  that 
might  giye  offence  to  individuals,  we  think  it  should 
always  be  remembered  that  public  functionaries  are  the 
property  of  the  public ;  that  their  character  belongs  to 

4  * 


42 

history  and  to  posterity,  and  that  it  is  equally  absurd  and 
discreditable  to  think  of  suppressing-  any  part  of  the  evi 
dence  by  which  their  merits  must  be  ultimately  deter 
mined.  But  the  whole  of  the  works  that  have  been  sup 
pressed  certainly  did  not  relate  to  republican  politics. 
The  history  of  the  author's  life,  down  to  1757,  could  not 
well  contain  any  matter  of  offence,  and  a  variety  of  gen 
eral  remarks  and  speculations  which  he  is  understood  to 
have  left  behind  him  might  have  been  permitted  to  see 
the  light,  though  his  diplomatic  operations  had  been  inter 
dicted.  The  emissary  of  government,  however,  probably 
took  no  care  of  these  things :  he  was  resolved  to  leave  no 
rubs  and  botches  in  his  work,  and,  to  stifle  the  dreaded 
revelation,  he  thought  the  best  way  was  to  strangle  all  the 
innocents  in  the  vicinage." 

William  Temple's  tardy  vindication  from  these  imputa 
tions  is  given  in  the  preface  to  his  edition  of  his  grand 
father's  works.  He  there  admits  that  he  delayed  their 
publication,  that  "  they  might  not  be  the  means  of  awa 
kening  painful  recollections  or  of  rekindling  the  dying 
embers  of  animosity."* 

Mr.  Sparks  thinks  that  William  Temple  Franklin  had 
motives  for  delaying  the  publication  of  the  writings  of  his 
grandfather  which  he  did  not  assign  in  his  preface.  He 
says  :f 

"  There  was  a  rumor  that  the  British  ministry  interposed, 
and  offered  the  proprietor  of  the  papers  a  large  remunera 
tion  to  suppress  them,  which  he  accepted.  This  rumor 
was  so  broadly  stated  in  the  preface  to  Johnson's  edition 


*  The  whole  of  this  preface  is  worth  perusing.     It  will  be  found  at 
length  in  Appendix  7. 

t  Sparks'  Life  of  Franklin,  vol.  vii.   Preface. 


43 

as  to  amount  to  a  positive  charge :  and  it  was  reiterated 
with  an  assurance  that  would  seem  at  least  to  imply  that 
it  was  sustained  by  the  public  opinion.  To  this  charge 
William  Temple  Franklin  replied  when,  in  the  year  1817, 
he  published  an  edition  of  his  grandfather's  works  from 
the  manuscripts  in  his  possession.  In  the  preface  to  the 
first  volume  he  endeavors  to  explain  the  reason  why  he 
had  so  long  delayed  the  publication,  and  he  also  takes 
notice  of  the  charge  in  question.  He  treats  it  with  indig 
nation  and  contempt,  and  appears  not  to  regard  it  as 
worthy  of  being  refuted.  He  was  less  reserved  in  con 
versation.  Dr.  John  W.  Francis,  of  New  York,  saw  him 
often  in  London  in  the  year  1816,  while  he  was  preparing 
his  grandfather's  papers  for  the  press.  '  To  me,'  says 
Dr.  Francis,  '  he  peremptorily  denied  all  interference  of 
any  official  authorities  whatever  with  his  intended  publi 
cation,  and  assigned,  as  sufficient  causes  for  the  non-exe 
cution  of  the  task  committed  to  him,  the  interruption  of 
communication  and  the  hostilities  between  the  French 
and  the  English  nations,  and  the  consequent  embarrass 
ments  he  encountered  in  collecting  the  scattered  mate 
rials.'  The  reason  here  assigned  for  delay  is  not  very 
satisfactory,  and  there  were  doubtless  others.  His  father, 
William  Franklin,  died  in  1813.  He  had  been  a  pen 
sioner  on  the  British  government,  in  consequence  of  the 
part  he  had  taken  in  the  Revolution,  and  it  is  probable 
that  he  may  have  been  averse  to  the  publication  of  his 
father's  papers  during  his  lifetime.  To  say  the  least,  the 
suspicion  that  papers  were  finally  suppressed  for  any 
cause  is  without  proof  and  highly  improbable.  A  paper 
mentioned  by  Mr.  Jefferson,  as  having  been  shown  to 
him  by  Dr.  Franklin,  and  supposed  to  have  been  sup- 


44 

pressed,  was  undoubtedly  the  one  relating  to  a  negotia 
tion  with  Lord  Howe  and  others,  for  a  reconciliation 
between  the  two  countries,  just  before  Dr.  Franklin  left 
England  for  the  last  time.  This  was  published  by  his 
grandson,  and  is  contained  in  the  fifth  volume  of  the 
present  edition." 

The  conjecture  of  Mr.  Sparks  is,  no  doubt,  correct  so 
far  as  it  goes.  There  can  be  no  question  with  any  person 
cognizant  of  the  state  of  feeling  which  prevailed  at  the 
time  in  England  toward  the  revolted  Colonies,  that  the 
publication  of  an  elaborate  edition  of  Franklin's  works 
would  have  been  unacceptable  to  the  governing  classes  ; 
nor  can  there  be  much  doubt  that  such  a  publication 
would  have  had  a  tendency  to  compromise  William 
Franklin  with  the  government,  and  put  his  pension  in 
peril.  When  it  is  further  considered  that  William  Frank 
lin  not  only  had  no  sympathy  with  the  republican  cause 
in  America,  but  did  all  he  could  to  betray  it,  and  thus 
entitled  himself  to  the  pension  upon  which  he  lived,  it 
may  safely  be  inferred  that  he  exerted  what  influence  he 
possessed  over  his  son,  not  only  to  defer  the  publication, 
but  to  unsettle  his  son's  faith  in  the  value  and  stability  of 
the  political  fabric  which  their  common  ancestor  had  had 
such  an  important  agency  in  erecting.  And  it  is  also  to 
be  borne  in  mind,  that  any  representations  of  that  nature 
which  the  father  might  make  would  have  fallen  upon  the 
son's  mind  in  a  state  not  wholly  unprepared  to  give  it 
hospitality.  Both  he  and  his  grandfather  thought  he  had 
been  treated  ungraciously  by  our  governmant,  from  which 
he  had  been  educated  to  expect  some  diplomatic  appoint 
ment.  Immediately  after  his  grandfather's  death  he  left 
the  United  States  under  a  feeling  of  disappointment,  if 


45 

not  of  disgust,  at  their  ingratitude,  and  never  returned. 
He  bore  with  him  in  his  trunk  a  manuscript  property 
which  could  be  turned  to  considerable  account  in  two 
ways — either  by  printing  it  or  by  suppressing  it.  The 
course  that  he  finally  took  was  one  which  enabled  him,  if 
he  chose,  to  take  the  benefit  of  both  modes  of  procedure. 
He  delayed  the  publication  until  it  could  no  longer  work 
any  prejudice  to  him  or  his,  and  then  found  for  it,  doubt 
less,  at  last  as  propitious  a  market  as  he  could  have  hoped 
for  had  he  published  earlier. 

Whether  he  did  profit  by  this  delay,  and  if  so,  in  what 
way  and  to  what  extent,  will  probably  never  be  known 
with  absolute  certainty.  Every  one's  conclusions  will  be 
more  or  less  affected  by  their  knowledge  of  his  character, 
habits  and  necessities.  There  is  a  paragraph  in  one  of 
his  letters  already  cited,  which  must  henceforth  be  weighed 
in  deciding  this  question.  He  wrote  to  M.  le  Veillard 
from  London  on  the  i4th  of  June,  1791  : 

"  I  am  much  distressed,  my  dear  friend,  at  what  you 
say  you  suffer  from  my  not  arriving  in  Paris.  I  have 
been  wishing  to  be  there  as  much  as  you  could  wish  to 
see  me,  but  I  could  not  possibly  think  of  leaving  this 
while  a  business  I  had  undertaken  was  pending,  for  which 
I  rec'd  a  salary  ;  and  which,  being  now  completed,  affords 
me  a  profit  of  seven  thousand  pounds  sterling!  This, 
my  dear  friend,  has  hitherto  kept  me  here — having  only 
been  finally  terminated  on  the  nth  inst.  I  am  in  hopes 
you  will  think  my  excuse  for  staying  till  it  was  done  a 
good  one.  I  have  now  only  some  few  arrangements  to 
make  in  consequence  of  my  success,  and  shall  undoubt 
edly  be  with  you  before  the  conclusion  of  this  month." 

When  this  was  written,  Dr.  Franklin  had  been  dead 


46 

but  about  a  year ;  the  writer  had  been  in  London  barely 
six  months.  He  never  pretended  in  his  correspondence 
before  to  have  any  other  business  there  than  to  edit  his 
grandfather's  works  ;  he  suddenly  engages  himself  upon  a 
salary  ;  in  less  than  six  months  finishes  his  business,  and 
pockets  a  profit  of  £7000,  or  say  $35,000.  While  earn 
ing  this  handsome  sum  he  was  apparently  a  free  man, 
constantly  writing  to  M.  le  Veillard  that  he  was  expect 
ing  to  go  in  a  few  days  or  weeks  to  Paris,  being  only 
detained  in  London  to  finish  his  book.  It  is  not  easy  to 
imagine  any  salaried  employment,  especially  such  a  profit 
able  one  as  this  seemed  to  be,  which  imposed  so  slight  a 
restraint  upon  the  movements  of  its  beneficiary. 

From  whatever  source  this  £7000  came,  and  however 
little  or  much  the  acquisition  of  it  had  to  do  with  the 
delay  in  the  publication  of  his  grandfather's  works,  it  is 
certainly  to  be  regretted  that  so  little  is  known  of  the 
business  engagement  which  was  entered  into  so  suddenly, 
was  of  such  brief  duration,  and  yet  yielded  such  generous 
profits.  Cabanis*  tells  us,  that  when  William  Franklin 
asked  of  the  Court  of  St.  James  the  governorship  of  one 
of  the  colonies t — a  favor  by  which  he  became  unfor 
tunately  bound  to  the  Loyalist  party — Franklin  said  to 
him  :  "  Think  what  this  whistle  will  some  day  cost  you. 
Why  not  rather  be  a  carpenter  or  a  ploughman,  if  the 
fortune  I  leave  you  prove  insufficient?  The  man  who 
works  for  his  living  is  at  least  independent.  But,"  added 
he,  in  telling  us  this  story,  "  the  young  man  was  infatu 
ated  with  the  '  Excellency.'  He  was  ashamed  to  resemble 
his  father." 


*  CEuvres  de  Cabanis,  vol.  v.  p.  223.  t  New  Jersey. 


47 

It  is  not  impossible  that  the  grandson,  after  residing 
a  while  in  London,  succumbed  to  a  similar  weakness. 

In  the  very  year  that  the  edition  of  William  Temple 
Franklin  made  its  appearance,  a  collection  of  Franklin's 
correspondence  was  compiled  and  published  in  Paris,  in 
2  vols.,  by  M.  Charles  Malo.*  The  Preface  of  this  book 
was  made  the  vehicle  of  a  ruthless  attack  upon  William 
Temple  Franklin  and  upon  his  editorial  enterprise,  which, 
coming  as  it  did  from  a  writer  of  some  reputation,  meas 
ures  the  marvelous  change  which  must  have  taken  place 
in  the  feelings  of  the  French  people  toward  him  since 
he  left  Paris,  to  have  rendered  such  an  introduction  of 
his  grandfather's  works  acceptable  to  them.  M.  Malo 
accuses  him  of  selecting  from,  abridging  and  belittling 
the  works  of  the  Doctor,  and  concludes  with  the  question  : 
''Ought  we  to  inherit  from  one  we  have  assassinated ?"f 
A  feeling  seems  to  have  prevailed  among  the  French 
editors  of  Franklin's  writings  that  he  was  ashamed  of 
his  grandfather's  humble  origin  and  early  employments. 

*  Correspondence  Inedite  et  Secrete  de  Docteur  B.  Franklin,  Ministre 
Plenipotentiaire  des  Etats-Unis  d'Amerique  pres  la  Cour  de  France 
depuis  1'annee  1753  jusque  en  1790  offrant,  en  trois  parties  completes  et 
bien  distinctes. 

i°.  Les  Memoires  de  sa  Vie  privee  ; 

2°.  Les  causes  premieres  de  la  Revolution  d'Amerique  ; 

3°.  L'Histoire  des  diverses  negotiations  entre  1'Angleterre,  la  France  et 
des  Etats-Unis,  publiee  pour  la  premiere  fois  en  France,  avec  des  notes, 
additions,  &c.  Paris,  Janet  pere,  Libraire  Editeur,  Rue  Saint-Jacques, 
No.  59.  MDCCCXVII. 

t  For  a  translation  of  this  diatribe,  see  the  Appendix,  No.  8.  The 
author  of  it,  M.  Charles  Malo,  was  a  voluminous  writer,  something  of  i 
poet,  and  a  warm  republican.  The  list  of  his  works  alone  fills  nearly 
two  pages  of  Querard.  It  is  not  strange  that  one  who  published  so 
much  should  make  some  ludicrous  blunders,  of  which  several  specimens 
may  be  found  among  the  notes  with  which  he  endeavored  to  illumine 


48 


III. 

The  autograph  Memoirs  fill  220  pages  of  foolscap, 
written  both  sides  of  the  page.  A  margin  of  half  its 
width  was  left  on  each  page  for  such  additions  and  cor 
rections  as  the  autobiographer  might  have  occasion  to 
make  at  a  future  day.  Of  this  margin  the  Doctor  took 
frequent  advantage.  He  had  such  a  clear  and  distinct 


the  writings  of  Franklin.  In  one  of  his  letters  Franklin  remarks : 
"  They  thought  a  Yankee  was  a  sort  of  Yahoo."  Upon  this  M.  Malo 
remarks  : 

"  Yahoo. — This  must  be  an  animal.  They  pretend  it  is  an  opossum  ; 
but  I  have  not  found  the  word  '  Yahoo'  in  any  dictionary  of  natural 
history." 

Again,  in  a  letter  to  Buffon,  Franklin  wrote  that  he  had  escaped 
obesity  by  eating  moderately,  drinking  neither  wine  nor  cider,  and  in 
exercising  himself  daily  with  dumb-bells.  M.  Malo  instructs  his  coun 
trymen  that  "this  term  dumb-bell  expresses  among  the  English  the 
motion  a  person  seated  makes  in  moving  back  and  forth  only  the  upper 
part  of  his  body." 

In  one  instance  M.  Malo  presumed  to  act  as  a  censor  upon  Dr. 
Franklin  himself.  In  a  letter  of  the  Doctor's,  he  had  quoted  with  a  sort 
of  humorous  approval  the  following  lines  from  an  old  song  : 

"With  a  courage  undaunted  may  I  face  my  last  day, 
And  when  I  am  gone  may  the  better  sort  say, 
In  the  morning  when  sober,  in  the  evening  when  mellow  : 
He  is  gone,  and  has  not  left  behind  him  his  fellow; 
For  he  governed  his  passions." 

M.  Malo  remarks  upon  this  couplet :  "I  have  not  translated  the  third 
line  literally,  for  it  did  not  seem  to  me  in  very  good  taste  to  desire  to  be 
praised  by  honest  people,  who  are  sober  in  the  morning  and  drunk  in 
the  evening."  So  he  translated  the  verse  as  follows  : 

"  Puisse  je  avcc  courage  voir  arriver  mon  dernier  jour  ;  et  quand  je 
ne  serai  plus,  puissent  les  gens  vertueux  repeter  souvent,  '  il  est  mort,  et 
n'a  pas  laisse  son  pareil  au  monde  !  Car  il  avait  sur  ses  passions  un 
pouvoir  absolu.' " 


49 

chirography  that  all  the  MS.  is  legible,  though  abound 
ing  with  interlineations  and  erasures.  The  last  eight 
pages  only,  betray  what  Cicero  terms  the  vacillantibus 
littcrulis  of  age  and  infirmity,  though  they  also  are  per 
fectly  legible.  They  must  have  been  written  in  the  Doc 
tor's  eighty-fourth  year,  and  in  the  intervals  of  those  in 
tense  pains  with  which  the  latter  days  of  his  life  were 
tortured. 

The  MS.  came  into  my  possession  half  bound  in  red 
morocco,  with  a  memorandum,  which  has  already  been 
cited,  inscribed  on  fly-leaves  in  French  and  in  English, 
in  the  handwriting,  I  presume,  of  M.  le  Veillard. 

As  a  part  of  the  history  of  this  manuscript,  it  is  proper 
that  I  should  add  the  following  memorandum,  furnished 
me  in  French  by  M.  de  Senarmont  himself: 

"Note  on  the  autograph  manuscript  of  the  Memoirs  of 
JSenJamin  jFranklin. 

"  The  manuscript  of  the  Memoirs  of  Franklin  is  a  folio 
of  220  pages,  written  with  a  half  page  margin  on  paper 
not  of  uniform  size. 

u  M.  le  Veillard,  gentleman  in  ordinary  of  the  king, 
and  Mayor  of  Passy,  was  an  intimate  friend  of  Dr.  Frank 
lin.  He  had  lived  in  daily  intercourse  with  him  at  Passy, 
near  Paris,  during  the  Doctor's  residence  in  France,  at 
the  epoch  of  the  American  War  of  Independence.  At 
the  departure  of  his  friend,  he  accompanied  him  to  the 
ship  on  which  Franklin  embarked  for  America,  and  it 
was  from  his  own  country  that  the  Doctor  sent  him,  as  a 
token  of  his  friendship,  the  copy  of  his  Memoirs,  subse 
quently  exchanged  for  the  original. 

"  The    original    manuscript   is    unique.     Mr.  William 


Temple  Franklin,  grandson  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  re 
ceived  it  at  the  death  of  his  grandfather,  who  had  left 
him  all  his  writings.  When  William  Temple  returned 
to  France  to  prepare  the  edition  which  he  published,  he 
requested  of  Madame  le  Veillard  her  copy  to  print  from, 
because  it  appeared  more  convenient  for  the  printer,  on 
account  of  its  neatness.  He  gave  to  Mad.  le  Veillard  in 
exchange  the  original  manuscript  entirely  written  by  the 
hand  of  Franklin. 

"  The  original  was,  however,  more  complete  than  the 
copy,  which  Mr.  Temple  had  not  verified.  Proof  of  this 
may  be  found  in  the  second  volume  of  the  small  edition 
of  the  Memoirs,  in  two  volumes  in  iSmo.,  published  by 
Jules  Renouard,  at  Paris,  in  1828.  One  may  there  read, 
at  the  commencement  of  a  continuation  which  then  ap 
peared  for  the  first  time,  a  note,  page  i,  where  the  editor 
states  that  this  continuation  was  communicated  to  them 
by  the  Le  Veillard  family.* 

"  The  simple  inspection  demonstrates  the  authenticity 
of  the  manuscript,  in  support  of  which  may  be  furnished 
other  positive  proofs,  drawn  from  the  different  pieces  ac 
companying  it,  such  as — 


*  The  note  here  referred  to,  translated,  reads  as  follows  :  "  We  pub 
lish  for  the  first  time  this  piece,  which  had  never  been  published  in 
English  or  French.  It  is  translated  from  the  original  manuscript  which 
served  for  the  English  edition  which  William  Temple  Franklin  pub 
lished  in  1818,  of  the  Memoirs  of  his  grandfather.  This  manuscript 
belongs  to  the  family  of  M.  le  Veillard,  an  intimate  friend  of  Franklin, 
and  we  owe  the  communication  of  it  to  M.  de  S.,  one  of  the  members 
of  this  honorable  family." 

The  M.  de  S.  here  referred  to,  we  presume,  was  the  father  of  the  M. 
P.  de  Senarmont  from  whom  I  received  the  Memoirs  and  the  memo 
randum  now  under  the  reader's  eye. 


"  The  three  letters  of  Dr.  Franklin  to  M.  le  Veillard  ; 
three  letters  from  Mr.  William  Temple  to  the  same  ;  and 
various  letters  from  Benjamin  Franklin  Bache,  Sarah 
Bache,  his  wife,  and  from  a  bookseller  who  wished  to 
purchase  the  manuscript  of  M.  le  Veillard  in  1791.* 

"•  M.  le  Veillard,  who  is  the  author  of  the  French  trans 
lation  of  the  Memoirs  of  Franklin, f  has  preserved  the 
autograph  manuscript,  with  a  sentiment  corresponding 
with  that  which  determined  his  friend  to  send  him  the 
MS.  copy. 

u  After  the  death  of  M.  le  Veillard,  who  perished  on 
the  Revolutionary  scaffold  in  1794,  the  MS.  went  to  his 


*  The  bookseller  here  referred  to  is  Buisson,  who  published  the  first 
edition  of  the  Memoirs,  in  French,  in  1791.  His  note  reads  as  follows : 

SIR  : — I  learn  that  you  have  manuscripts  relating  to  the  life  of  Dr. 
Franklin.  If  it  is  your  intention  to  dispose  of  them,  I  offer  to  become 
their  purchaser. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir, 

Your  humble  and  obedient  servant, 
BUISSON, 
Bookseller,  Rue  Hautefeuille,  No.  2. 

I  want  a  word  of  reply,  if  you  please. 
PARIS,  26  June>  1791. 

What  reply  was  made  to  this  application  will  probably  never  be  known. 
That  the  MS.  was  not  sold  is  certain,  for  we  know  it  was  afterward  ex 
changed  for  the  autograph. 

On  the  other  hand,  M.  le  Veillard,  in  his  note  to  the  Journal  du  Paris, 
quoted  above,  distinctly  says  that  he  not  only  had  nothing  to  do  with  the 
translation,  but  did  not  know  how  the  translator  had  been  able  to  pro 
cure  the  manuscript  from  which  to  make  it. 

t  M.  de  Senarmont  is  evidently  in  error  in  attributing  the  French 
translation  that  was  printed  in  1791  to  M.  le  Veillard.  M.  le  Veillard 
made  a  translation ;  but  it  must  have  been  printed  subsequently,  if  at 
all. 


52 

(laughter.  At  her  death,  in  1834,  ^  became  the  property 
of  her  cousin,  M.  de  Senarmont,  whose  grandson  de 
livered  it,  on  the  26th  January,  1867,  to  Mr.  John  Bigelow, 
late  Minister  of  the  United  States  at  Paris. 

u  The  manuscript  is  accompanied  by  a  beautiful  portrait 
in  pastel  by  Duplessis.  Franklin  sat  for  this  portrait 
during  his  sojourn  at  Passy,  and  presented  it  himself  to 
M.  le  Veillard. 

"  (Signed)  L.  DE  SENARMONT. 

"PARIS,  i>]tk  January,  1867." 

In  addition  to  the  continuation  of  the  Memoirs  which 
was  overlooked  by  William  Temple  Franklin,  already 
referred  to,  I  was  so  fortunate  as  to  find  in  the  Le  Veil- 
lard  collection  a  skeleton  sketch  of  the  topics  which  Dr. 
Franklin  originally  proposed  to  treat  in  the  Autobiog 
raphy.  It  was,  doubtless,  the  first  outline  of  the  work. 
It  is  written  upon  a  letter  sheet,  the  first  three  pages  in 
black  ink  and  in  the  hand  of  a  copyist,  while  the  continu- 
tiqn  of  seven  lines  on  the  fourth  page,  beginning  with 
"  Hutchinson's  Letters,"  are  in  red  ink,  and  in  the  hand 
of  Franklin  himself. 

A  line  is  drawn  with  a  pen  through  the  middle  of  the 
first  page  of  the  manuscript  down  to  the  words :  "  Li 
brary  erected — manner  of  conducting-  the  project — its 
plan  and  utility"  As  these  are  the  topics  which  con 
clude  the  first  part  of  the  Memoirs,  terminating  at  page 
87  of  the  manuscript,  the  line  was  probably  drawn  by 
Franklin  when  he  had  reached  that  stage  of  his  work,  that 
he  might  the  more  easily  know  with  what  topic  to  resume 
it  when  he  should  have  occasion  to  do  so. 

I  give  this  Outline  as  an  introduction  to  the  Memoirs. 


53 

It  will  be  found  extremely  interesting,  first,  as  showing 
how  systematically  Franklin  set  about  the  execution  of 
the  task  of  which  these  Memoirs  are  the  result ;  and, 
secondly,  for  the  notions  it  gives  us  of  the  unexecuted 
portion  of  his  plan.* 

The  printed  manuscript  ends  with  his  departure  to  Eng 
land  as  agent  of  the  Colony  of  Pennsylvania,  to  settle  the 
disputes  about  the  proprietary  taxes  in  1757,  while  the 
Outline  comes  down  to  the  conclusion  of  his  diplomatic 
career,  of  course  embracing  the  most  interesting  portion  of 
his  life.  No  one  can  glance  over  the  subjects  that  were 
to  have  been  treated  in  the  succeeding  pages  of  the 
Memoirs  without  experiencing  a  new  pang  of  regret  at 
their  incompleteness.  How  precious  would  have  been 
the  personal  sketches  which  he  promised  to  leave  of 
many  of  the  distinguished  people  among  whom  he  spent 
the  latter  years  of  his  life ;  how  interesting  the  impres 
sions  which  he  would  have  thought  worth  recording  of 
his  first  visit  to  the  Continent  in  1766,  '67  and  '69 ;  of  the 
entertainment  given  him  by  the  French  Academy  ;  of  his 
mode  of  prosecuting  his  electrical  discoveries ;  his  anal 
ysis  of  his  own  character ;  and,  above  all,  his  account  of 
his  last  residence  in  France,  and  of  his  negotiations  for 
the  recognition  of  the  Colonies. 

Rich  and  charming  as  is  his  correspondence  upon 
many  of  these  subjects,  we  miss  the  limpid  narrative. 


*  The  glimpse  given  in  this  Outline  of  Franklin's  habits  of  composi 
tion  tempts  me  to  refer  the  reader  to  an  extract  from  a  letter  which  Dr. 
Franklin  wrote  to  Mr.  Vaughan  in  1789,  in  which,  at  Mr.  Vaughan's 
request,  he  gives  him  some  counsel  on  the  subject  of  his  style.  What 
he  says  will  help  the  reader  to  comprehend  the  uses  for  \s  Inch  the  Out 
line  referred  to  in  the  text  was  prepared.  See  Appendix,  No.  9. 
5  * 


54 

gemmed  all  over,  like  a  cloudless  firmanent  at  night,  with 
the  pertinent  anecdote,  curious  observation  and  sage 
reflections  which  constitute  the  unspeakable  charm  of  his 
Memoirs. 

But  though  it  was  ordained  that  this  Autobiography 
should  take  its  place  among  the  famous  unfinished  pro 
jects  of  human  genius,  it  is  a  great  satisfaction  to  know, 
as  this  document  permits  us  to  know,  what  were  the  ex 
periences  of  the  most  momentous  period  of  his  life  which 
Dr.  Franklin  thought  most  worthy  of  being  rescued  from 
oblivion,  even  though,  like  some  familiar  memorial  of  a 
departed  friend,  they  renew  the  sense  of  a  loss  to  which 
time  was  beginning  to  bring  its  consolations. 

This  volume  is  embellished  by  a  portrait  of  Franklin, 
engraved  from  the  pastel  by  Duplessis  in  the  Le  Veillard 
Collection.  Franklin  sat  for  it  to  Duplessis  in  1783,  and 
presented  it  to  his  friend,  Le  Veillard.  At  the  bottom  of 
the  old  gilt  frame,  in  front,  is  the  following  inscription 
upon  the  frame : 

"BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN, 

"A    77    ANS, 

« Peint  par  Jh  Sd  Duplessis, 

"1783. 
«  Donnd  par  Franklin  lui-meme." 

On  the  back  is  the  following  memorandum,  placed 
there,  doubtless,  by  M.  le  Veillard  : 

Benjamin  Franklin,  a  77  ans  ;  peint  en  1783  par  Duplessis; 
donnd  par  Franklin  lui-meme  a  M.  Louis  le  Veillard,  gentil- 
homme  ordinaire  de  la  Reine,  son  ami  et  son  voisin  a  Passy. 


55 

Joseph  Siffred  Duplessis,  Academician,  nd  a  Carpentrar,  s'est 
distingue  par  une  belle  intelligence,  les  effets  de  la  lumiere,  sur 
les  chairs  et  accessoires  un  pinceau  large  ;  bien  senti  et  un 
coloris  vrai.  Les  personnages  de  distinction  dans  ses  portraits 
sont  pose's  avec  noblesse  et  dans  des  altitudes  bien  choisies.  II 
a  peint  le  portrait  de  Louis  XVI.,  ceux  de  M.  et  Mme.  Neckar, 
et  de  plusieurs  grands  de  la  Cour. — Les  trois  siecles  de  la  peint- 
ure  la  France,  par  Gault  de  St.  Germain.  1808. — Swiback  1'eleve 
le  plus  distingud  de  Duplessis,  a  surpasse  son  maitre. 

It  will  be  observed  that,  unmindful  of  the  example  of 
previous  editors  of  these  Memoirs,  I  have  limited  myself 
strictly  to  a  reproduction  of  their  text,  without  attempting 
to  continue  and  complete  the  narrative  of  the  Autobiog- 
rapher's  life.  I  have  one  sufficient  excuse,  if  any  is 
needed,  for  this  course  which  none  of  my  predecessors 
could  have  pleaded.  The  delightful  and  comparatively 
recent  work  of  Mr.  Parton  has  left  no  place  in  English 
literature  for  another  biography  of  this  most  illustrious 
of  our  countrymen. 

I  do  not  know  that  I  can  more  appropriately  conclude 
this  bibliographical  summary  than  by  quoting  a  few  pas 
sages  from  the  introduction  to  the  Memoirs  of  Franklin  by 
Professor  Edward  Laboulaye,  which  appeared  in  Paris 
in  1 866.*  The  translation  of  the  Memoirs  and  corre 
spondence  of  Franklin  was  one  of  the  many  ways  by 
which  this  distinguished  jurist  contributed,  during  our 
late  struggle  for  the  preservation  of  our  Federal  Union,  to 
keep  alive  in  France  that  friendship  for  the  United  States 


*  Memoires  de  Benjamin  Franklin,  ecrits  par  lui-meme,  traduits  de 
1' Anglais  et  annotes  par  Edouard  Laboulaye,  de  1'Institut  de  France 
Paris,  Libraire  de  L.  Hachette  &  Cie.  1866. 


56 

which  Franklin,  more  than  any  other  one  person,  had  the 
merit  of  inspiring,  and  to  which,  for  the  second  time, 
we  have  been  largely  beholden  for  our  national  exist 
ence  : 

"  What  constitutes  the  charm  of  the  Memoirs  is  not  the 
recital  of  events,  which  arc  of  the  most  ordinary  charac 
ter  ;  it  is  the  reflections  which  accompany  their  recital. 
Franklin  is  a  born  moralist.  The  first  letter  he  writes  to 
his  sister  is  a  sermon  on  the  virtues  of  a  good  house 
keeper.  The  penitent  is  fifteen  and  the  preacher  twenty. 
From  this  moment  to  his  death  Franklin  did  not  change. 
He  is  always  the  man  who  reasons  out  his  conduct — the 
sage  who,  following  the  ingenious  definition  of  Mr.  Ban 
croft,  never  said  a  word  too  soon  nor  a  word  too  late. 
He  never  said  a  word  too  much,  nor  failed  to  say  the 
decisive  word  at  the  proper  moment.  In  his  letters  how 
many  moral  lessons,  given  with  as  much  gayety  as  power  ! 
It  is  not  an  author  one  reads  ;  he  is  a  friend  to  whom  one 
listens.  There  is  Franklin,  with  his  venerable  face,  his 
hair  floating  back,  and  his  eye  always  shrewd  and  quick, 
presenting  altogether  one  of  the  most  amiable  figures  of 
the  last  century.  How  many  prejudices  he  playfully  dis 
sipated  !  how  he  rallied  the  selfishness  of  individuals  and 
the  artifices  of  governments,  which  are  but  another  form 
of  selfishness !  Do  not  ask  of  him  anything  sublime,  nor 
expect  from  him  those  bursts  which  raise  you  above  the 
passing  world.  Franklin  never  quits  the  earth  ;  it  is  not 
genius  in  him  ;  it  is  good  sense  expressed  in  its  highest 
power.  Do  not  seek  in  him  a  poet,  nor  even  an  orator, 
but  a  master  of  practical  life — a  man  to  whom  the  world 
belongs.  Neither  imagine  you  have  to  do  with  a  vulgar, 
worldly  wisdom.  This  amiable  mocker,  who  laughs  at 


57 

everything,  is  not  the  less  kind-hearted,  a  devoted  patriot, 
and  one  of  the  sincerest  friends  of  humanity.  His  laugh 
is  not  that  of  Voltaire  ;  there  is  no  bitterness  in  it ;  it  is 
the  benevolent  smile  of  an  old  man  whom  life  has  taught 
to  be  indulgent.  In  noting  without  vanity  what  he  terms 
his  errata  of  conduct,  Franklin  teaches  us  that  no  one 
has  a  right  to  judge  another  severely,  and  that  in  the 
most  correct  life  there  is  always  many  a  page  to  correct. 
It  is  thus  that  he  humbles  himself  to  us  to  encourage  us. 
He  is  a  companion  who  takes  us  by  the  hand,  and,  talking 
with  us  familiarly,  little  by  little,  makes  us  blush  at  our 
weaknesses,  and  communicates  to  us  something  of  his 
warmth  and  goodness.  Such  are  the  effects  wrought  by 
perusing  the  Memoirs,  and  still  more  by  the  correspond 
ence — most  strengthening  reading  for  all  ages  and  condi 
tions.  No  one  ever  started  from  a  lower  point  than  the 
poor  apprentice  of  Boston.  No  one  ever  raised  himself 
higher  by  his  own  unaided  forces  than  the  inventor  of 
the  lightning-rod.  No  one  has  rendered  greater  service 
to  his  country  than  the  diplomatist  who  signed  the  treaty 
of  1783,  and  assured  the  independence  of  the  United 
States.  Better  than  the  biographies  of  Plutarch,  this 
life,  so  long  and  so  well  filled,  is  a  source  of  perpetual 
instruction  to  all  men.  Every  one  can  there  find  counsel 
and  example.  *  *  *  *  Franklin  has  never  played 
a  part — neither  with  others  nor  with  himself.  He  says 
what  he  thinks  ;  he  does  what  he  says.  He  knows  but 
one  road  which  leads  from  destitution  to  fortune.  He 
knows  of  but  one  mode  to  arrive  at  happiness,  or,  at  least, 
to  contentment ;  it  is  by  labor,  economy,  and  probity. 
Such  is  the  receipt  he  gives  to  his  readers ;  but  this 
receipt  he  commenced  by  trying  himself.  We  can  believe 

C* 


58 

in  a  secret  with  which  he  himself  succeeded.  In  our 
democratic  society,  where  every  one  seeks  to  better  his 
condition — a  very  legitimate  purpose — nothing  is  worth 
so  much  as  the  example  and  the  lessons  of  a  man  who, 
without  influence  and  without  fortune,  became  master 
after  having  been  a  laborer — gave  himself  the  education 
which  he  lacked,  and,  by  force  of  toil,  privations  and 
courage,  raised  himself  to  the  first  rank  in  his  country, 
and  conquered  the  admiration  and  respect  of  the  human 
race.  To  have  the  talent  of  Franklin,  or  to  be  favored  as 
he  was  by  events,  is  not  given  to  all ;  but  every  one  may 
have  the  honor  of  following  such  a  model,  even  without 
the  hope  of  reaching  it." 

I  will  venture  to  add  that  in  my  judgment  there  never 
was  a  time  in  the  history  of  our  country  when  the  lessons 
of  humility,  economy,  industry,  toleration,  charity,  and 
patriotism,  which  are  made  so  captivating  in  this  Auto 
biography,  could  be  studied  with  more  profit  by  the  rising 
generation  of  Americans  than  now.  They  have  burdens 
to  bear  unknown  to  their  ancestors,  and  problems  of  gov 
ernment  to  solve  unknown  to  history.  All  the  qualities, 
moral  and  intellectual,  that  are  requisite  for  a  successful 
encounter  with  these  portentous  responsibilities  were  sin 
gularly  united  in  the  character  of  Franklin,  and  nothing 
in  our  literature  is  so  well  calculated  to  reproduce  them 
as  his  own  deliberate  record  of  the  manner  in  which  he 
2aid  the  foundation  at  once  of  his  own  and  of  his  coun 
try's  greatness. 

All  the  notes  to  this  volume,  not  credited  to  other 
sources,  are  from  the  manuscript,  and,  of  course,  in 
Franklin's  handwriting:. 


59 

The  notes  signed  "  B."  are  by  the  Editor. 

Those  signed  "  W.  T.  F."  are  by  William  Temple 
Franklin. 

Those  signed  "  Sparks,"  are  from  Dr.  Sparks'  precious 
Collection  of  the  Writings  of  Franklin. 

I  have  rigorously  followed  the  orthography  of  the  MS.  ; 
not  that  I  attach  much  importance  to  this  comparatively 
mechanical  feature  of  the  work,  but  because  I  thought  it 
would  be  satisfactory  to  many  readers  to  see  with  what 
defects  of  early  education  its  author  had  successfully  con 
tended  in  reaching  a  celebrity  as  yet  attained  by  none  of 
his  countrymen. 

It  will  be  observed  that  Franklin  followed  no  system 
of  orthography  very  strictly.  He  would  spell  public  with 
a  "  k,"  and  mtisic  without  a  "  k."  In  some  participles 
and  adjectives  ending  in  "  ed"  he  would  substitute  an 
apostrophe  for  the  final  "  e  ;"  in  others  he  would  give 
the  final  syllable  in  full.  Though  is  almost  uniformly 
spelt  "  tho',"/0£  with  two  "  b's,"  and  surf  with  two  "  f's" 
— extreme,  "  extream." 

A  few  gross  mistakes  occur,  such  as  "  sope,"  for  "  soap," 
etc. ;  yet  as  a  general  rule  his  orthography  conformed  to 
that  of  his  time.  It  may  be  said,  with  entire  justice,  that 
he  spelled  the  king's  English  very  much  better  than  the 
king  himself  did. 

JOHN  BIGELOW. 
THE  SQUIRRELS,  December  28,  1867. 


\Copie  d^un  Projlt  tres  Curieux  de  Benjamin  Franklin — i*« 
Esquisse  de  ses  Memoires.  Les  additions  a  Fencre  rouge 
sont  de  la  main  de  Franklin .]  * 

MY  writing.  Mrs.  Dogood's  letters.  Differences  arise  between  my 
Brother  and  me  (his  temper  and  mine) ;  their  cause  in  general.  His 
Newspaper.  The  Prosecution  he  suffered.  My  Examination.  Vote 
of  Assembly.  His  manner  of  evading  it.  Whereby  I  became  free.  My 
attempt  to  get  employ  with  other  Printers.  He  prevents  me.  Our  fre 
quent  pleadings  before  our  Father.  The  final  Breach.  My  Induce 
ments  to  quit  Boston.  Manner  of  coming  to  a  Resolution.  My  leaving 
him  and  going  to  New  York  (return  to  eating  flesh) ;  thence  to  Penn 
sylvania.  The  journey,  and  its  events  on  the  Bay,  at  Amboy.  The  road. 
Meet  with  Dr.  Brown.  His  character.  His  great  work.  At  Burlington. 
The  Good  Woman.  On  the  River.  My  Arrival  at  Philadelphia.  First 
Meal  and  first  Sleep.  Money  left.  Employment.  Lodging.  First  ac 
quaintance  with  my  afterward  Wife.  With  J.  Ralph.  With  Keimer. 
Their  characters.  Osborne.  Watson.  The  Governor  takes  notice  of 
me.  The  Occasion  and  Manner.  His  character.  Offers  to  set  me  up. 
My  return  to  Boston.  Voyage  and  accidents.  Reception.  My  Father 
dislikes  the  proposal.  I  return  to  New  York  and  Philadelphia.  Gov 
ernor  Burnet.  J.  Collins.  The  Money  for  Vernon.  The  Governor's 
Deceit.  Collins  not  finding  employment  goes  to  Barbados  much  in  my 


*  This  memorandum,  probably  in  the  handwriting  of  M.  le  Veillard,  immediately 
precedes  the  Outlii.e  in  the  MS. 

6  61 


62 


Debt.  Ralph  and  I  go  to  England.  Disappointment  of  Governor's 
Letters.  Colonel  French  his  Friend.  Cornwallis's  Letters.  Cabbin. 
Denham.  Hamilton.  Arrival  in  England.  Get  employment.  Ralph 
not.  lie  is  an  expense  to  me.  Adventures  in  England.  Write  a  Pam 
phlet  and  print  100.  Schemes.  Lyons.  Dr.  Pemberton.  My  diligence, 
and  yet  poor  through  Ralph.  My  Landlady.  Her  character.  Wygate. 
Wilkes.  Gibber.  Plays.  Books  I  borrowed.  Preachers  I  heard. 
Redmayne.  At  Watts's.  Temperance.  Ghost.  Conduct  and  Influ 
ence  among  the  Men.  Persuaded  by  Mr.  De_nham  to  return  with  him 
to  Philadelphia  and  be  his  clerk.  Our  voyage  and  arrival.  My  resolu 
tions  in  Writing.  My  Sickness.  His  Death.  Found  D.  R.  married. 
Go  to  work  again  with  Keimer.  Terms.  His  ill  usage  of  me.  My 
Resentment  Saying  of  Decow.  My  Friends  at  Burlington.  Agree 
ment  with  H.  Meredith  to  set  up  in  Partnership-  Do  so.  Success  with 
the  Assembly.  Hamilton's  Friendship.  Sewell's  History.  Gazette. 
Paper  money.  Webb.  Writing  Busy  Body.  Breintnal.  Godfrey.  His 
Character.  Suit  against  us.  Offer  of  my  Friends,  Coleman  and  Grace. 
Continue  the  Business,  and  M.  goes  to  Carolina.  Pamphlet  on  Paper 
Money.  Gazette  from  Keimer.  Junto  credit ;  its  plan.  Marry.  Li 
brary  erected.  Manner  of  conducting  the  project.  Its  plan  and  utility. 
Children.  Almanac.  The  use  I  made  of  it.  Great  industry.  Constant 
study.  Father's  Remark  and  Advice  upon  Diligence.  Carolina  Part 
nership.  Learn  French  and  German.  Journey  to  Boston  after  ten  years. 
Affection  of  my  Brother.  His  Death,  and  leaving  me  his  Son.  Art  of 
Virtue.  Occasion.  City  Watch  amended.  Post-office.  Spotswood. 
Bradford's  Behavior.  Clerk  of  Assembly.  Lose  one  of  my  Sons.  Pro 
ject  of  subordinate  Juntos.  Write  occasionally  in  the  papers.  Success 
in  Business.  Fire  companies.  Engines.  Go  again  to  Boston  in  1743. 
vSee  Dr.  Spence.  Whitefield.  My  connection  with  him.  His  generosity 
to  me.  My  returns.  Church  Differences.  My  part  in  them.  Propose 
a  College.  Not  then  prosecuted.  Propose  and  establish  a  Philosophical 
Society.  War.  Electricity.  My  first  knowledge  of  it.  Partnership 
with  D.  Hall,  &c.  Dispute  in  Assembly  upon  Defence.  Project  for  it. 
Plain  Truth.  Its  success.  Ten  thousand  Men  raised  and  disciplined. 
Lotteries.  Battery  built.  New  Castle.  My  influence  in  the  Council. 
Colors,  Devices,  and  Mottos.  Ladies'  Military  Watch.  Quakers  chosen 
of  the  Common  Council.  Put  in  the  commission  of  the  peace.  Logan 
fond  of  me.  His  Library.  Appointed  Postmaster-General.  Chosen 
Assemblyman.  Commissioner  to  treat  with  Indians  at  Carlisle  and  at 
Easton.  Project  and  establish  Academy.  Pamphlet  on  it.  Journey  to 
Boston.  At  Albany.  Plan  of  union  of  the  colonies.  Copy  of  it.  Re- 


63 

marks  upon  it.  It  fails,  and  how.  Journey  to  Boston  in  1754.  Dis 
putes  about  it  in  our  Assembly.  My  part  in  them.  New  Governor. 
Disputes  with  him.  His  character  and  sayings  to  me.  Chosen  Alder 
man.  Project  of  Hospital.  My  share  in  it.  Its  success.  Boxes.  Made 
a  Commissioner  of  the  Treasury.  My  commission  to  defend  the  frontier 
counties.  Raise  Men  and  build  Forts.  Militia  Law  of  my  drawing. 
Made  Colonel.  Parade  of  my  Officers.  Offence  to  Proprietor.  Assist 
ance  to  Boston  Ambassadors.  Journey  with  Shirley,  &c.  Meet  with 
Braddock.  Assistance  to  him.  To  the  Officers  of  his  Army.  Furnish 
him  with  Forage.  His  concessions  to  me  and  character  of  me.  Success 
of  my  Electrical  Experiments.  Medal  sent  me.  Present  Royal  Society, 
and  Speech  of  President.  Denny's  Arrival  and  Courtship  to  me.  His 
character.  My  service  to  the  Army  in  the  affair  of  Quarters.  Disputes 
about  the  Proprietor's  Taxes  continued.  Project  for  paving  the  City. 
I  am  sent  to  England.  Negotiation  there.  Canada  delenda  esf.  My 
Pamphlet.  Its  reception  and  effect.  Projects  drawn  from  me  concern 
ing  the  Conquest.  Acquaintance  made  and  their  services  to  me — Mrs. 
S.  M.  Small,  Sir  John  P.,  Mr.  Wood,  Sargent  Strahan,  and  others. 
Their  characters.  Doctorate  from  Edinburgh,  St.  Andrew's.  Doctorate 
from  Oxford.  Journey  to  Scotland.  Lord  Leicester.  Mr.  Prat.  De 
Grey.  Jackson.  State  of  Affairs  in  England.  Delays.  Eventful  Journey 
into  Holland  and  Flanders.  Agency  from  Maryland.  Son's  appoint 
ment.  My  Return.  Allowance  and  thanks.  Journey  to  Boston.  John 
Penn,  Governor.  My  conduct  toward  him.  The  Paxton  Murders.  My 
Pamphlet.  Rioters  march  to  Philadelphia.  Governor  retires  to  my 
House.  My  conduct.  Sent  out  to  the  Insurgents.  Turn  them  back. 
Little  thanks.  Disputes  revived.  Resolutions  against  continuing  under 
Proprietary  Government.  Another  Pamphlet.  Cool  thoughts.  Sent 
again  to  England  with  Petition.  Negotiation  there.  Lord  H.  His 
character.  Agencies  from  New  Jersey,  Georgia,  Massachusetts.  Jour 
ney  into  Germany,  1766.  Civilities  received  there.  Gottingen  Obser 
vations.  Ditto  into  France  in  1767.  Ditto  in  1769.  Entertainment 
there  at  the  Academy.  Introduced  to  the  King  and  the  Mesdames, 
Mad.  Victoria  and  Mrs.  Lamagnon.  Due  de  Chaulnes,  M.  Beaumont. 
Le  Roy,  D'Alibard,  Nollet.  See  Journals.  Holland.  Reprint  my 
papers  and  add  many.  Books  presented  to  me  from  many  authors.  My 
Book  translated  into  French.  Lightning  Kite.  Various  Discoveries. 
My  manner  of  prosecuting  that  Study.  King  of  Denmark  invites  me 
to  dinner.  Recollect  my  Father's  Proverb.  Stamp  Act.  My  opposition 
to  it  Recommendation  of  J.  Hughes.  Amendment  of  it.  Examina 
tion  in  Parliament.  Reputation  it  gave  me.  Caressed  by  Ministry. 


64 

Charles  Townsend's  Act.  Opposition  to  it.  Stoves  and  chimney-plates. 
Armonica.  Acquaintance  with  Ambassadors.  Russian  Intimation. 
Writing  in  newspapers.  Glasses  from  Germany.  Grant  of  Land  in 
Nova  Scotia.  Sicknesses.  Letters  to  America  returned  hither.  The 
consequences.  Insurance  Office.  My  character.  Costs  me  nothing  to 
be  civil  to  inferiors  ;  a  good  deal  to  be  submissive  to  superiors,  &c.,  &c. 
Farce  of  Perpetual  Motion.  Writing  for  Jersey  Assembly.  Hutchin- 
son's  Letters.  Temple.  Suit  in  Chancery.  Abuse  before  the  Privy 
Council.  Lord  Hillsborough's  character  and  conduct.  Lord  Dart 
mouth.  Negotiation  to  prevent  the  War.  Return  to  America.  Bishop 
of  St.  Asaph.  Congress.  Assembly.  Committee  of  Safety.  Chevaux- 
de-frise.  Sent  to  Boston,  to  the  Camp.  To  Canada,  to  Lord  Howe. 
To  France.  Treaty,  &c. 


THE  AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 


TwYFORD,  at  the  Bishop  of  St.  Asap/i's*  1771. 

DEAR  SON  :  I  have  ever  had  pleasure  in  ob 
taining  any  little  anecdotes  of  my  ancestors. 
You  may  remember  the  inquiries  I  made  among  the 


*  The  country-seat  of  the  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph,  Dr.  Jonathan  Shipley, 
the  "good  Bishop,"  as  Dr.  Franklin  used  to  style  him.  Their  relations 
were  intimate  and  confidential.  In  his  pulpit,  and  in  the  House  of 
Lords,  as  well  as  in  society,  the  Bishop  always  opposed  the  harsh  mea 
sures  of  the  Crown  toward  the  Colonies.  Franklin  thus  refers  to  one 
of  his  friendly  sermons  in  a  letter  to  his  son  William : 

"  I  have  sent  to  Mr.  Galloway  one  of  the  Bishop  of  St.  Asaph's  ser 
mons  before  your  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel.  I  would  have 
sent  you  one,  but  you  will  receive  it  of  course  as  a  member.  It  contains 
such  liberal  and  generous  sentiments  relating  to  the  conduct  of  govern 
ment  here  toward  America  that  Sir  John  Pringle  says  it  was  written  in 
compliment  to  me.  But  from  the  intimacy  of  friendship  in  which  I  live 
with  the  author,  I  know  he  has  expressed  nothing  but  what  he  thinks 
6  *  65 


66  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

remains  of  my  relations  when  you  were  with  me  in 
England,  and  the  journey  I  undertook  for  that  pur- 


and  feels ;  and  I  honor  him  the  more  that  through  the  mere  hope  of 
doing  good  he  has  hazarded  the  displeasure  of  the  Court,  and  of  course 
the  prospect  of  further  preferment."  Sparks'  Works  of  Franklin,  vol. 
viii.  p.  40. 

The  following  extract  from  a  letter  written  to  his  wife  by  the  Doctor, 
just  after  one  of  his  visits  to  Twyford  in  1771,  reveals  the  kind  of  con 
sideration  in  which  the  Doctor  was  held  in  that  household  : 

"  I  spent  three  weeks  in  Hampshire  at  my  friend  the  Bishop  of  St. 
Asaph's.  The  Bishop's  lady  knows  what  children  and  grandchildren  I 
have,  and  their  ages  ;  so,  when  I  was  to  come  away  on  Monday,  the  I2th, 
in  the  morning,  she  insisted  on  me  staying  that  one  day  longer,  that  we 
might  together  keep  my  grandson's  birthday.  At  dinner,  among  other 
nice  things,  we  had  a  floating  island,  which  they  always  particularly  have 
on  the  birthdays  of  any  of  their  own  six  children,  who  were  all  but  one 
at  table,  where  there  was  also  a  clergyman's  widow,  now  above  one  hun 
dred  years  old.  The  chief  toast  of  the  day  was  Master  Benjamin  Bache, 
which  the  venerable  old  lady  began  in  a  bumper  of  Mountain.  The 
Bishop's  lady  politely  added :  '  And  that  he  may  be  as  good  a  man  as 
his  grandfather.'  I  said  I  hoped  he  would  be  much  better.  The  Bishop, 
still  more  complaisant  than  his  lady,  said,  We  will  compound  the  matter 
and  be  contented  if  he  should  not  prove  quite  so  good.  This  chit-chat 
is  to  yourself  only,  in  return  for  some  of  yours  about  your  grandson,  and 
must  not  be  read  to  Sally,  and  must  not  be  spoken  of  to  anybody  else  ; 
for  you  know  how  people  add  and  alter  silly  stories  that  they  hear,  and 
make  them  appear  ten  times  more  silly."  Sparks'1  Works  of  Franklin, 
vol.  vii.  p.  538. 

The  "good  Bishop"  died  on  the  Qth  of  December,  1788.  In  reply  to 
a  note  from  his  gifted  daughter,  Miss  Catharine  Louisa  Shipley,  an 
nouncing  her  father's  death,  Dr.  Franklin  wrote  : 

"PHILADELPHIA,  27  April,  1789. 

"  It  is  only  a  few  days  since  the  kind  letter  of  my  dear  young  friend, 
dated  December  24th,  came  to  my  hand.  I  had  before,  in  the  public 
papers,  met  with  the  afflicting  news  that  letter  contained.  That  excel 
lent  man  has  then  left  us  !  His  departure  is  a  loss  not  to  his  family  and 
friends  only,  but  to  his  nation  and  to  the  world  ;  for  he  was  intent  on 
doing  good — had  wisdom  to  devise  the  means  and  talents  to  promote 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  67 

pose.  Imagining  it  may  be  equally  agreeable  to* 
you  to  know  the  circumstances  of  my  life,  many  of 
which  you  are  yet  unacquainted  with,  and  expecting 
the  enjoyment  of  a  week's  uninterrupted  leisure  in 
my  present  country  retirement,  I  sit  down  to  write 
them  for  you.  To  which  I  have  besides  some  other 
inducements.  Having  emerged  from  the  poverty 
and  obscurity  in  which  I  was  born  and  bred,  to  a 
state  of  affluence  and  some  degree  of  reputation  in 
the  world,  and  having  gone  so  far  through  life  with 
a  considerable  share  of  felicity,  the  conducing  means 
I  made  use  of,  which  with  the  blessing  of  God  so 


them.  His  '  sermon  before  the  Society  for  Propagating  the  Gospel,'  and 
his  speech  intended  to  have  been  spoken  (on  the  bill  for  altering  the 
Charters  of  the  Colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay),  are  proofs  of  his  ability 
as  well  as  of  his  humanity.  Had  his  counsels  in  those  pieces  been 
attended  to  by  ministers,  how  much  bloodshed  might  have  been  pre 
vented,  and  how  much  expense  and  disgrace  to  the  nation  avoided  ! 

"  Your  reflections  on  the  constant  calmness  and  composure  attending 
his  death  are  very  sensible.  Such  instances  seem  to  show  that  the  good 
sometimes  enjoy  in  dying  a  foretaste  of  the  happy  state  they  are  about 
to  enter. 

"  According  to  the  course  of  years,  I  should  have  quitted  this  world 
long  before  him.  I  shall,  however,  not  be  long  in  following.  I  am 
now  in  my  eighty-fourth  year,  and  the  last  year  has  considerably  en 
feebled  me,  so  that  I  hardly  expect  to  remain  another.  You  will  then, 
my  dear  friend,  consider  this  as  probably  the  last."  B. 

*  After  the  words  "  agreeable  to"  the  words  "  some  of"  were  interlined 
aid  afterward  effaced.  The  Doctor  probably  had  it  in  his  mind  to 
address  his  Memoirs  to  his  children  or  family,  but  finally  concluded  to 
address  them  to  his  son,  perhaps  to  secure  a  freedom  in  treating  the 
events  of  his  life  which  he  would  not  have  had  were  he  addressing  his 
daughter.  The  words  "  some  of"  may  not  have  been  effaced  until  after 
he  had  determined  to  allow  the  Memoirs  to  be  printed,  which  there  is 
reason  to  believe  he  had  not  originally  contemplated.  B. 


68  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

well  succeeded,  my  posterity  may  like  to  know,  as 
they  may  find  some  of  them  suitable  to  their  own 
situations,  and  therefore  fit  to  be  imitated. 

That  felicity,  when  I  reflected  on  it,  has  induced 
me  sometimes  to  say,  that  were  it  offered  to  my 
choice,  I  should  have  no  objection  to  a  repetition  of 
the  same  life  from  its  beginning,  only  asking  the 
advantages  authors  have  in  a  second  edition  to  cor 
rect  some  faults  of  the  first.  So  I  might,  besides 
correcting  the  faults,  change  some  sinister  accidents 
and  events  of  it  for  others  more  favorable.  But 
though  this  were  denied,  I  should  still  accept  the 
offer.  Since  such  a  repetition  is  not  to  be  expected, 
the  next  thing  most  like  living  one's  life  over  again 
seems  to  be  a  recollection  of  that  life,  and  to  make 
that  recollection  as  durable  as  possible  by  putting  it 
down  in  writing. 

Hereby,  too,  I  shall  indulge  the  inclination  so 
natural  in  old  men,  to  be  talking  of  themselves  and 
their  own  past  actions  ;  and  I  shall  indulge  it  with 
out  being  tiresome  to  others,  who,  through  respect  to 
age,  might  conceive  themselves  obliged  to  give  me 
a  hearing,  since  this  may  be  read  or  not  as  any  one 
pleases.  And,  lastly  (I  may  as  well  confess  it, 
since  my  denial  of  it  will  be  believed  by  nobody), 
perhaps  I  shall  a  good  deal  gratify  my  own  vanity. 
Indeed,  I  scarce  ever  heard  or  saw  the  introductory 
words,  "  Without  vanity  I  may  say"  &c.,  but  some 
vain  thing  immediately  followed.  Most  people  dis 
like  vanity  in  others,  whatever  share  they  have  of 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  69 

it  themselves ;  but  I  give  it  fair  quarter  wherever  I 
meet  with  it,  being  persuaded  that  it  is  often  pro 
ductive  of  good  to  the  possessor,  and  to  others  that 
are  within  his  sphere  of  action ;  and  therefore,  in 
many  cases,  it  would  not  be  altogether  absurd  if  a 
man  were  to  thank  God  for  his  vanity  among  the 
other  comforts  of  life.* 


*  Some  twenty  years  before  he  commenced  his  Memoirs,  Franklin 
threw  his  mantle  over  this  not  unprofitable  weakness  which  he  termed 
Vanity,  in  a  letter  to  his  friend  Jared  Elliott : 

"PHILADELPHIA,  September  nth,  1751. 

"  DEAR  SIR  : 

******** 
What  you  mention  concerning  the  love  of  praise  is  indeed  very  true : 
it  reigns  more  or  less  in  every  heart ;  though  we  are  generally  hypo 
crites,  in  that  respect,  and  pretend  to  disregard  praise,  and  our  nice, 
modest  ears  are  offended,  forsooth  !  with  what  one  of  the  ancients  calls 
the  sweetest  kind  of  music.  This  hypocrisy  is  only  a  sacrifice  to  the 
pride  of  others,  or  to  their  envy,  both  which,  I  think,  ought  rather  to 
be  mortified.  The  same  sacrifice  we  make  when  we  forbear  to  praise 
ourselves,  which  naturally  we  are  all  inclined  to ;  and  I  suppose  it  was 
formerly  the  fashion,  or  Virgil,  that  courtly  writer,  would  not  have  put 
a  speech  into  the  mouth  of  his  hero,  which  now-a-days  we  should  esteem 
so  great  an  indecency : 

'  Sum  pius  ./Eneas      *      *      * 
*      *      *      fama  super  asthera  notus.' 

One  of  the  Romans,  I  forget  who,  justified  speaking  in  his  own  praise 
by  saying :  "  Every  freeman  had  a  right  to  speak  what  he  thought  of 
himself,  as  well  as  of  others."  That  this  is  a  natural  inclination  appears 
in  that  all  children  show  it,  and  say  freely,  I  am  a  good  boy ;  am  I  not 
a  good  girl  ?  and  the  like,  till  they  have  been  frequently  chid,  and  told 
their  trumpeter  is  dead,  and  that  it  is  unbecoming  to  sound  their  own 
praise,  etc.  But 

Naturam  espellas  furca,  tamen  usque  recurret. 
Being  forbid  to  praise  themselves,  they  learn  instead  of  it  to  censure 


70  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

And  now  I  speak  of  thanking  God,  I  desire  with 
all  humility  to  acknowledge  that  I   owe  the  men- 


others,  which  is  only  a  roundabout  way  of  praising  themselves  ;  for  con 
demning  the  conduct  of  another,  in  any  particular,  amounts  to  as  much 
as  saying,  /  am  so  honest,  or  wise,  or  good,  or  prudent,  that  I  could  not 
do  or  approve  of  such  an  action.  This  fondness  for  ourselves,  rather 
than  malevolence  to  others,  I  take  to  be  the  general  source  of  censure 
and  backbiting ;  and  I  wish  men  had  not  been  taught  to  dam  up  natural 
currents,  to  the  overflowing  and  damage  of  their  neighbor's  grounds. 
Another  advantage,  methinks,  would  arise  from  freely  speaking  our 
good  thoughts  of  ourselves,  viz.  :  if  we  were  wrong  in  them,  somebody 
or  other  would  readily  set  us  right ;  but  now,  while  we  conceal  so  care 
fully  our  vain,  erroneous  self-opinions,  we  may  carry  them  to  our  grave, 
for  who  would  offer  physic  to  a  man  that  seems  to  be  in  health  ?  And  the 
privilege  of  recounting  freely  our  own  good  actions  might  be  an  induce 
ment  to  the  doing  of  them,  that  we  might  be  enabled  to  speak  of  them 
without  being  subject  to  be  justly  contradicted  or  charged  with  false 
hood  ;  whereas  now,  as  we  are  not  allowed  to  mention  them,  and  it  is 
an  uncertainty  whether  others  will  take  due  notice  of  them  or  not,  we 
are  perhaps  the  more  indifferent  about  them ;  so  that,  upon  the  whole, 
I  wish  the  out-of-fashion  practice  of  praising  ourselves  would,  like  other 
old  fashions,  come  round  into  fashion  again.  But  this,  I  fear,  will  not  be 
in  our  time.  So  we  must  even  be  contented  with  what  little  praise  we 
can  get  from  one  another.  And  I  will  endeavor  to  make  you  some 
amends  for  the  trouble  of  reading  this  long  scrawl  by  telling  you,  that  I 
have  the  sincerest  esteem  for  you,  as  an  ingenious  young  man,  and  a  good 
one,  which,  together,  make  the  valuable  member  of  society.  As  such, 
I  am  with  great  respect  and  affection,  dear  sir, 

"  Your  obliged,  humble  servant, 

"B.  FRANKLIN." 
— Sparks'  Works  of  Franklin,  vol.  viii.  p.  52. 

There  is,  perhaps,  no  more  interesting  or  profitable  standard  with 
which  to  compare  men  than  the  terms  in  which  they  speak  of  them 
selves.  The  year  that  Franklin  wrote  the  last  pages  of  his  Memoirs, 
Gibbon  commenced  his.  It  is  curious  to  observe  the  different  styles 
in  which  the  diplomatist  and  the  scholar  enumerate  vanity  among  the 
leading  and  legitimate  motives  in  which  the  two  most  fascinating  and 
most  renowned  autobiographies  in  any  language  had  their  origin. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  71 

tioned  happiness  of  my  past  life  to  His  kind  provi 
dence,  which  lead  me  to  the  means  I  used  and  gave 


"A  lively  desire  of  knowing  and  of  recording  our  ancestors  so  generally 
prevails  that  it  must  depend  on  the  influence  of  some  common  principle 
in  the  minds  of  men.  We  seem  to  have  lived  in  the  persons  of  our  fore 
fathers  ;  it  is  the  labor  and  reward  of  vanity  to  extend  the  term  of  this 
ideal  longevity.  Our  imagination  is  always  active  to  enlarge  the  narrow 
circle  in  which  nature  has  confined  us.  Fifty  or  a  hundred  years  may 
be  allotted  to  an  individual ;  but  we  step  forward  beyond  death  with 
such  hopes  as  religion  and  philosophy  will  suggest ;  and  we  fill  up  the 
silent  vacancy  that  precedes  our  birth  by  associating  ourselves  to  the 
authors  of  our  existence.  Our  calmer  judgment  will  rather  tend  to 
moderate  than  to  suppress  the  pride  of  an  ancient  and  worthy  race. 
The  satirist  may  laugh,  the  philosopher  may  preach,  but  Reason  her 
self  will  respect  the  prejudices  and  habits  which  have  been  consecrated 
by  the  experience  of  mankind.  Few  there  are  who  can  sincerely  de 
spise  in  others  an  advantage  of  which  they  are  secretly  ambitious  to 
partake.  The  knowledge  of  our  own  family  from  a  remote  period  will 
be  always  esteemed  as  an  abstract  pre-eminence,  since  it  can  never  be 
promiscuously  enjoyed  ;  but  the  longest  series  of  peasants  and  mechanics 
would  not  afford  much  gratification  to  the  pride  of  their  descendant. 
We  wish  to  discover  our  ancestors,  but  we  wish  to  discover  them  pos 
sessed  of  ample  fortunes,  adorned  with  honorable  titles,  and  holding  an 
eminent  rank  in  the  class  of  hereditary  nobles,  which  has  been  main 
tained  for  the  wisest  and  most  beneficial  purposes  in  almost  every  cli 
mate  of  the  globe  and  in  almost  every  modification  of  political  society. 
Wherever  the  distinction  of  birth  is  allowed  to  form  a  superior  order  in 
the  State,  education  and  example  should  always,  and  will  often,  produce 
among  them  a  dignity  of  sentiment  and  propriety  of  conduct,  which  is 
guarded  from  dishonor  by  their  own  and  the  public  esteem.  If  we  read 
of  some  illustrious  line  so  ancient  that  it  has  no  beginning,  so  worthy 
that  it  ought  to  have  no  end,  we  sympathize  in  its  various  fortunes  ;  nor 
can  we  blame  the  generous  enthusiasm,  or  even  the  harmless  vanity,  of 
those  who  are  allied  to  the  honors  of  its  name.  For  my  own  part,  could 
I  draw  my  pedigree  from  a  general,  a  statesman,  or  a  celebrated  author, 
I  should  study  their  lives  with  the  diligence  of  filial  love.  In  the  inves 
tigation  of  past  events,  our  curiosity  is  stimulated  by  the  immediate  or 
indirect  reference  to  ourselves  ;  but  in  the  estimate  of  honor  we  should 
learn  to  value  the  gifts  of  nature  above  those  of  fortune  ;  to  esteem  in 


72  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

them  success.    My  belief  of  this  induces  me  to  hope, 
though  I  must  not  presume,  that  the  same  goodness 


our  ancestors  the  qualities  that  best  promote  the  interests  of  society ; 
and  to  pronounce  the  descendant  of  a  king  less  truly  noble  than  the  off 
spring  of  a  man  of  genius,  whose  writings  will  instruct  or  delight  the 
latest  posterity.  The  family  of  Confucius  is  in  my  opinion  the  most 
illustrious  in  the  world.  After  a  painful  ascent  of  eight  or  ten  centuries, 
our  barons  and  princes  of  Europe  are  lost  in  the  darkness  of  the  Middle 
Ages  ;  but  in  the  vast  equality  of  the  empire  of  China  the  posterity  of 
Confucius  have  maintained,  above  two  thousand  two  hundred  years, 
their  peaceful  honors  and  perpetual  succession.  The  chief  of  the  family 
is  still  revered,  by  the  sovereign  and  the  people,  as  the  lively  image  of 
the  wisest  of  mankind.  The  nobility  of  the  Spencers  has  been  illus 
trated  and  enriched  by  the  trophies  of  Marlborough  ;  but  I  exhort  them 
to  consider  the  Faery  Queen*  as  the  most  precious  jewel  of  their  coronet. 
Our  immortal  Fielding  was  of  the  younger  branch  of  the  Earls  of  Den 
bigh,  who  draw  their  origin  from  the  Counts  of  Denbigh,  who  draw 
their  origin  from  the  Counts  of  Hapsburg,  the  lineal  descendants  of 
Enrico,  in  the  seventh  century,  Duke  of  Alsace.  Far  different  have 
been  the  fortunes  of  the  English  and  German  divisions  of  the  family  of 
Hapsburg  :  the  former,  the  Knights  and  Sheriffs  of  Leicestershire,  have 
slowly  risen  to  the  dignity  of  a  peerage  ;  the  latter,  the  Emperors  of  Ger 
many  and  Kings  of  Spain,  have  threatened  the  liberty  of  the  Old,  and 
invaded  the  treasures  of  the  New  World.  The  successors  of  Charles 
the  Fifth  may  disdain  their  brethren  of  England  ;  but  the  romance  of 
Tom  Jones,  that  exquisite  picture  of  human  manners,  will  outlive  the 
palace  of  the  Escurial  and  the  imperial  eagle  of  the  house  of  Austria. 
That  these  sentiments  are  just,  or  at  least  natural,  I  am  the  more  in 
clined  to  believe  as  I  am  not  myself  interested  in  the  cause  ;  for  I  can 
derive  from  my  ancestors  neither  glory  nor  shame.  Yet  a  sincere  and 
simple  narrative  of  my  own  life  may  amuse  some  of  my  leisure  hours  ; 
but  it  will  subject  me,  and  perhaps  with  justice,  to  the  imputation  of 
vanity.  I  may  judge,  however,  from  the  experience  both  of  past  and  of 
the  present  times,  that  the  public  are  always  curious  to  know  the  men 
who  have  left  behind  them  any  image  of  their  minds ;  the  most  scanty 

*  Nor  less  praiseworthy  are  the  ladies  three, 
The  honor  of  that  noble  familie, 
Of  which  I  meanest  boast  myself  to  be. 

SPENCER,  Colin  Clout,  &*c.,  v.  538. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  73 

will  still  be  exercised  toward  me,  in  continuing  that 
happiness,  or  enabling  me  to  bear  a  fatal  reverse, 


accounts  of  such  men  are  compiled  with  diligence  and  perused  with 
eagerness ;  and  the  student  of  every  class  may  derive  a  lesson,  or  an 
example,  from  the  lives  most  similar  to  his  own.  My  name  may  here 
after  be  placed  among  the  thousand  articles  of  a  Biographia  Britannica  ; 
and  I  must  be  conscious  that  no  one  is  so  well  qualified  as  myself  to 
describe  the  series  of  my  thoughts  and  actions.  The  authority  of  my 
masters,  of  the  grave  Thuanus  and  the  philosophic  Hume,  might  be 
sufficient  to  justify  my  design ;  but  it  would  not  be  difficult  to  pro 
duce  a  long  list  of  ancients  and  moderns  who,  in  various  forms,  have 
exhibited  their  own  portraits.  Such  portraits  are  often  the  most  in 
teresting,  and  sometimes  the  only  interesting,  parts  of  their  writings ; 
and,  if  they  be  sincere,  we  seldom  complain  of  the  minuteness  or  pro 
lixity  of  these  personal  memorials.  The  lives  of  the  younger  Pliny,  of 
Petrarch  and  of  Erasmus,  are  expressed  in  the  epistles  which  they 
themselves  have  given  to  the  world ;  the  essays  of  Montagne  and  Sir 
William  Temple  bring  us  home  to  the  houses  and  bosoms  of  the  au 
thors.  We  smile  without  contempt  at  the  headstrong  passions  of  Benve- 
nuto  Cellini  and  the  gay  follies  of  Colley  Gibber.  The  Confessions  of 
St.  Austin  and  Rousseau  disclose  the  secrets  of  the  human  heart ;  the 
Commentaries  of  the  learned  Huet  have  survived  his  evangelical  demon 
stration  ;  and  the  Memoirs  of  Goldoni  are  more  truly  dramatic  than  his 
Italian  comedies.  The  heretic  and  the  churchman  are  strongly  marked 
in  the  characters  and  fortunes  of  W7histon  and  Bishop  Newton ;  and 
even  the  dullness  of  Michael  de  Marolles  and  Anthony  Wood  acquires 
some  value  from  the  faithful  representation  of  men  and  manners.  That 
I  am  equal  or  superior  to  some  of  these,  the  effects  of  modesty  or  affec 
tation  cannot  force  me  to  dissemble." 

Hume,  whose  account  of  his  own  life  was  written  in  1776,  the  year  he 
died,  and  five  years  after  Franklin's  was  begun,  commences  and  con 
cludes  his  less  pretending  story  with  a  similar  confession.  He  com 
mences  by  saying : 

"  It  is  difficult  for  a  man  to  speak  long  of  himself  without  vanity ; 
therefore  I  shall  be  short.  It  may  be  thought  an  instance  of  vanity  that 
I  pretend  at  all  to  write  my  life  ;  but  this  narrative  shall  contain  little 
more  than  the  history  of  my  writings,  as,  indeed,  almost  all  my  life  has 
been  spent  in  literary  pursuits  and  occupations.  The  first  success  of 
most  of  my  writings  was  not  such  as  to  be  an  object  of  vanity.'' 
7  D 


74  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

which  I  may  experience  as  others  have  done ;  the 
complexion  of  my  future  fortune  being  known  to  Him 
only  in  whose  power  it  is  to  bless  to  us  even  our 
afflictions. 

The  notes  one  of  my  uncles  (who  had  the  same 
kind  of  curiosity  in  collecting  family  anecdotes)  once 
put  into  my  hands,  furnished  me  with  several  par 
ticulars  relating  to  our  ancestors.  From  these  notes  I 
learned  that  the  family  had  lived  in  the  same  vil 
lage,  Ecton,  in  Northamptonshire,  for  three  hundred 
years,  and  how  much  longer  he  knew  not  (perhaps 
from  the  time  when  the  name  of  Franklin,  that  be- 


He  concludes  as  follows  : 

"  I  am,  or  rather  was  (for  that  is  the  style  I  must  now  use  in  speak 
ing  of  myself,  which  emboldens  me  the  more  to  speak  my  sentiments) ; 
I  was,  I  say,  a  man  of  mild  dispositions,  of  command  of  temper,  of  an 
open,  social  and  cheerful  humor,  capable  of  attachment,  but  little  sus 
ceptible  of  enmity,  and  of  great  moderation  in  all  my  passions.  Even 
my  love  of  literary  fame,  my  ruling  passion,  never  soured  my  temper, 
notwithstanding  my  frequent  disappointments.  My  company  was  not 
unacceptable  to  the  young  and  careless,  as  well  as  to  the  studious  and 
literary ;  and  as  I  took  a  particular  pleasure  in  the  company  of  modest 
women,  I  had  no  reason  to  be  displeased  with  the  reception  I  met  with 
from  them.  In  a  word,  though  most  men  anywise  eminent  have  found 
reason  to  complain  of  calumny,  I  never  was  touched,  or  even  attacked 
by  her  baleful  tooth  ;  and  though  I  wantonly  exposed  myself  to  the  rage 
of  both  civil  and  religious  factions,  they  seemed  to  be  disarmed  in  my 
behalf  of  their  wonted  fury.  My  friends  never  had  occasion  to  vindicate 
any  one  circumstance  of  my  character  and  conduct ;  not  but  that  the 
zealots,  we  may  well  suppose,  would  have  been  glad  to  invent  and  pro 
pagate  any  story  to  my  disadvantage,  but  they  could  never  find  any 
which  they  thought  would  wear  the  face  of  probability.  I  cannot  say 
there  is  no  vanity  in  making  this  funeral  oration  of  myself,  but  I  hope 
it  is  not  a  misplaced  one ;  and  this  is  a  matter  of  fact  which  is  easily 
cleared  and  ascertained"  B. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  75 

fore  was  the  name  of  an  order  of  people,  was  assumed 
by  them  as  a  surname  when  others  took  surnames 
all  over  the  kingdom*),  on  a  freehold  of  about  thirty 
acres,  aided  by  the  smith's  business,  which  had  con 
tinued  in  the  family  till  his  time,  the  eldest  son  be 
ing  always  bred  to  that  business ;  a  custom  which 
he  and  my  father  followed  as  to  their  eldest  sons. 
When  I  searched  the  registers  at  Ecton,  I  found  an 
account  of  their  births,  marriages  and  burials  from 
the  year  1555  only,  there  being  no  registers  kept  in 
that  parish  at  any  time  preceding.  By  that  register 
I  perceived  that  I  was  the  youngest  son  of  the 
youngest  son  for  five  generations  back.  My  grand- 

*  As  a  proof  that  Franklin  was  anciently  the  common  name  of  an  order 
or  rank  in  England,  see  Judge  Fortescue's  De  Laudibus  Legum  Anglic, 
written  about  the  year  1412,  in  which  is  the  following  passage,  to  show 
that  good  juries  might  easily  be  formed  in  any  part  of  England  :  "  Regio 
etiam  ilia,  ita  respersa  refertaque  est  possessoribus  terrarum  et  agrorum, 
quod  in  ea,  villula  tarn  parva  reperiri  non  potent,  in  qua  non  est  miles, 
armiger,  vel  pater-familias,  qualis  ibidem  Franleri  vulgariter  nuncupatur, 
magnis  ditatus  possessionibus,  nee  non  libere  tenentes  et  alii  valecti 
plurimi,  suis  patrimoniis  sufficientes  ad  faciendum  juratam,  in  forma 
praenotata."  Moreover,  the  same  country  is  so  filled  and  replenished 
with  landed  menne,  that  therein  so  small  a  thorpe  cannot  be  found 
wherein  dweleth  not  a  knight,  an  esquire,  or  such  an  householder,  as  is 
there  commonly  called  a  Franklin,  enriched  with  great  possessions  ;  and 
also  other  freeholders  and  many  yeomen  able  for  their  livelihoodes  to 
make  a  jury  in  form  aforementioned. — Old  Translation. 

Chaucer,  too,  calls  his  country  gentleman  a  Franklin,  and,  after  de 
scribing  his  good  housekeeping,  thus  characterizes  him  : 

"  This  worthy  Franklin  has  a  purse  of  silk, 
Fixed  to  his  girdle,  white  as  morning  milk. 
Knight  of  the  Shire,  first  Justice  at  the  Assize, 
To  help  the  poor,  the  doubtful  to  advise. 
In  all  employments,  generous,  just,  he  proved, 
Renowned  for  courtesy,  by  all  beloved." 


76  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

father  Thomas,  who  was  born  in  1598,  lived  at 
Ecton  till  he  grew  too  old  to  follow  business  longer, 
when  he  went  to  live  with  his  son  John,  a  dyer  at 
Banbury,  in  Oxfordshire,  with  whom  my  father 
served  an  apprenticeship.  There  my  grandfather 
died  and  lies  buried.  We  saw  his  gravestone  in  1758. 
His  eldest  son  Thomas  lived  in  the  house  at  Ecton, 
and  left  it  with  the  land  to  his  only  child,  a  daughter, 
who,  with  her  husband,  one  Fisher,  of  Welling- 
borough,  sold  it  to  Mr.  Isted,  now  lord  of  the  manor 
there.  My  grandfather  had  four  sons  that  grew 
up,  viz.  :  Thomas,  John,  Benjamin  and  Josiah.  I 
will  give  you  what  account  I  can  of  them,  at  this 
distance  from  my  papers,  and  if  these  are  not  lost 
in  my  absence,  you  will  among  them  find  many 
more  particulars.* 


*  The  following  is  a  copy  of  an  original  letter,  which  is  in  the  hands 
of  the  publisher  in  Philadelphia;  it  is  a  curious  relic,  and  was  found 
among  the  wreck  of  Dr.  Franklin's  papers  several  years  ago  : 

"From  Josiah  to  B.  Franklin : 

"  LOVING  SON  :  As  to  the  original  of  our  name,  there  is  various  opin 
ions  ;  some  say  that  it  came  from  a  sort  of  title,  of  which  a  book  that 
you  bought  when  here  gives  a  lively  account.  Some  think  we  are  of  a 
French  extract,  which  was  formerly  called  Franks ;  some  of  a  free  line, 
a  line  free  from  that  vassalage  which  was  common  to  subjects  in  days 
of  old  ;  some  from  a  bird  of  long  red  legs.  Your  uncle  Benjamin  made 
inquiry  of  one  skilled  in  heraldry,  who  told  him  there  is  two  coats  of 
armor,  one  belonging  to  the  Franklins  of  the  North,  and  one  to  the 
Franklins  of  the  West.  However,  our  circumstances  have  been  such  as 
that  it  hath  hardly  been  worth  while  to  concern  ourselves  much  about 
these  things  any  farther  than  to  tickle  the  fancy  a  little.  The  first  that 
I  can  give  account  of,  is  my  great-grandfather,  as  it  was  a  custom  in 
those  days  among  young  men  too  many  times  to  goe  to  seek  their  for- 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  77 

Thomas  was  bred  a  smith  under  his  father ;  but, 
being  ingenious,  and  encouraged  in  learning  (as  all 


tunes,  and  in  his  travels  he  went  upon  liking  to  a  taylor  ;  but  he  kept  such 
a  stingy  house,  that  he  left  him  and  travelled  farther,  and  came  to  a 
smith's  house,  and  coming  on  a  fasting  day,  being  in  popish  times,  he 
did  not  like  there  the  first  day  ;  the  next  morning  the  servant  was  called  up 
at  five  in  the  morning,  but  after  a  little  time  came  a  good  toast  and  good 
beer,  and  he  found  good  housekeeping  there  ;  he  served  and  learned  the 
trade  of  a  smith.  In  Queen  Mary's  days,  either  his  wife,  or  my  grand 
mother,  by  father's  side,  informed  my  father  that  they  kept  their  Bible 
fastened  under  the  top  of  a  joint-stool,  that  they  might  turn  up  the 
book  and  read  in  the  Bible,  that  when  anybody  came  to  the  dore  they 
turned  up  the  stool  for  fear  of  the  aparitor,  for  if  it  was  discovered  they 
would  be  in  hazard  of  their  lives.  My  grandfather  was  a  smith  also, 
and  settled  in  Eton,  in  Northamptonshire,  and  he  was  imprisoned  a 
year  and  a  day  on  suspicion  of  his  being  the  author  of  some  poetry  that 
touched  the  character  of  some  great  man.  He  had  only  one  son  and 
one  daughter  ;  my  grandfather's  name  was  Thomas,  my  mother's  name 
was  Jane.  My  father  was  born  at  Ecton  or  Eton,  Northamptonshire, 
on  the  i8th  of  October,  1698 ;  married  to  Miss  Jane  White,  niece  to 
Coll.  White,  of  Banbury,  and  died  in  the  84th  year  of  his  age.  There 
was  nine  children  of  us,  who  were  happy  in  our  parents,  who  took  great 
care  by  their  instructions  and  pious  example  to  breed  us  up  in  a  religious 
way.  My  eldest  brother  had  but  one  child,  which  was  married  to  one 
Mr.  Fisher,  at  W7allingborough,  in  Northamptonshire.  The  town  was 
lately  burnt  down,  and  whether  she  was  a  sufferer  or  not  I  cannot  tell, 
or  whether  she  be  living  or  not.  Her  father  dyed  worth  fifteen  hundred 
pounds,  but  what  her  circumstances  are  now  I  know  not.  She  hath  no 
child.  If  you  by  the  freedom  of  your  office,  makes  it  more  likely  to  con 
vey  a  letter  to  her,  it  would  be  acceptable  to  me.  There  is  also  children 
of  brother  John  and  sister  Morris,  but  I  hear  nothing  from  them,  and 
they  write  not  to  me,  so  that  I  know  not  where  to  find  them.  I  have 
been  again  to  about  seeing  *  *  *  *,  but  have  mist  of  being  informed. 

"  We  received  yours,  and  are  glad  to  hear  poor  Jammy  is  recovered 
so  well.  Son  John  received  the  letter,  but  is  so  busy  just  now  that  he 
cannot  write  you  an  answer,  but  will  do  the  best  he  can.  Now  with 
hearty  love  to,  and  prayer  for  you  all,  I  rest  your  affectionate  father, 

"JOSIAH  FRANKLIN. 

"  BOSTON,  May  26,  1739."  W.  T.  F. 

7  * 


7$  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

my  brothers  were)  by  an  Esquire  Palmer,  then  the 
principal  gentleman  in  that  parish,  he  qualified  him 
self  for  the  business  of  scrivener ;  became  a  con 
siderable  man  in  the  county  ;  was  a  chief  mover  of 
all  public-spirited  undertakings  for  the  county  or 
town  of  Northampton,  and  his  own  village,  of  which 
many  instances  were  related  of  him  ;  and  much  taken 
notice  of  and  patronized  by  the  then  Lord  Halifax. 
He  died  in  1702,  January  6,  old  style,  just  four  years 
to  a  day  before  I  was  born.  The  account  we  received 
of  his  life  and  character  from  some  old  people  at 
Ecton,  I  remember,  struck  you  as  something  extra 
ordinary,  from  its  similarity  to  what  you  knew  of 
mine.  "  Had  he  died  on  the  same  day,  "  you  said, 
"  one  might  have  supposed  a  transmigration." 

John  was  bred  a  dyer,  I  believe  of  woolens. 
Benjamin  was  bred  a  silk  dyer,  serving  an  appren 
ticeship  at  London.  He  was  an  ingenious  man. 
I  remember  him  well,  for  when  I  was  a  boy  he 
came  over  to  my  father  in  Boston,  and  lived  in  the 
house  with  us  some  years.  He  lived  to  a  great  age. 
His  grandson,  Samuel  Franklin,  now  lives  in 
Boston.  He  left  behind  him  two  quarto  volumes, 
MS.,  of  his  own  poetry,  consisting  of  little  occa 
sional  pieces  addressed  to  his  friends  and  relations, 
of  which  the  following,  sent  to  me,  is  a  specimen.* 


*  Here  follows  in  the  margin  the  words,  in  brackets,  "  here  insert  it," 
but  the  poetry  is  not  given.  Mr.  Sparks  informs  us  (Life  of  Franklin, 
p.  6)  that  these  volumes  had  been  preserved,  and  were  in  possession  of 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  79 

He  had  formed  a  short-hand  of  his  own,  which  he 
taught  me,  but,  never  practising  it,  I  have  now  for 
got  it.  I  was  named  after  this  uncle,  there  being  a 
particular  affection  between  him  and  my  father. 


Mrs.  Emmons,  of  Boston,  great-granddaughter  of  their  author.     The 
following  are  specimens  quoted  by  Mr.  Sparks  : 

"  Sent  to  his  namesake,  upon  a  Report  of  his  Inclination  to  Martial 
Affairs,  July  yth,  1710: 

"  Believe  me,  Ben,  it  is  a  dangerous  trade, 
The  sword  has  many  marred  as  well  as  made ; 
By  it  do  many  fall,  not  many  rise, 
Makes  many  poor,  few  rich,  and  fewer  wise  ; 
Fills  towns  with  ruin,  fields  with  blood  ;  beside 
'Tis  sloth's  maintainer,  and  the  shield  of  pride. 
Fair  cities,  rich  to-day  in  plenty  flow, 
War  fills  with  want  to-morrow,  and  with  woe. 
Ruined  estates,  the  nurse  of  vice,  broke  limbs  and  scars, 
Are  the  effects  of  desolating  wars." 

"  ACROSTIC, 
"  Sent  to  Benjamin  Franklin  in  New  England,  July  I5th,  1710 : 

"  Be  to  thy  parents  an  obedient  son  ; 
Each  day  let  duty  constantly  be  done ; 
Never  give  way  to  sloth,  or  lust,  or  pride, 
If  free  you'd  be  from  thousand  ills  beside  ; 
Above  all  ills  be  sure  avoid  the  shelf; 
Man's  danger  lies  in  Satan,  sin,  and  self. 
In  virtue,  learning,  wisdom,  progress  make ; 
Ne'er  shrink  at  suffering  for  thy  Saviour's  sake. 

"  Fraud  and  all  falsehood  in  thy  dealings  flee, 
Religious  always  in  thy  station  be  ; 
Adore  the  Maker  of  thy  inward  part, 
Now's  the  accepted  time,  give  him  thy  heart  ; 
Keep  a  good  conscience,  'tis  a  constant  friend  ; 
Like  judge  and  witness  this  thy  acts  attend. 
In  heart  with  bended  knee,  alone,  adore 
None  but  the  Three  in  One  for  evermore." 

The  following  piece  was  sent  when  his  namesake  was  seven  years  old. 
It  would  appear  that  he  had  received  from  him  some  evidence  of  his 
juvenile  skill  in  composition  : 


So  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

He  was  very  pious,  a  great  attender  of  sermons 
of  the  best  preachers,  which  he  took  down  in 
his  short-hand,  and  had  with  him  many  volumes 
of  them.  He  was  also  much  of  a  politician  ;  too 
much,  perhaps,  for  his  station.  There  fell  lately 
into  my  hands,  in  London,  a  collection  he  had  made 
of  all  the  principal  pamphlets  relating  to  public 
affairs,  from  1641  to  1717  ;  many  of  the  volumes  are 
wanting  as  appears  by  the  numbering,  but  there 


"  Sent  to  Benjamin  Franklin,  1713  : 

"  'Tis  time  for  me  to  throw  aside  my  pen, 
When  hanging  sleeves  read,  write,  and  rhyme  like  men. 
This  forward  spring  foretells  a  plenteous  crop  ; 
For  if  the  bud  bear  grain,  what  will  the  top  ? 
If  plenty  in  the  verdant  blade  appear, 
What  may  we  not  soon  hope  for  in  the  ear? 
When  flowers  are  beautiful  before  they're  blown, 
What  rarities  will  afterward  be  shown  ! 
If  trees  good  fruit  un'noculated  bear, 
You  may  be  sure  'twill  afterward  be  rare. 
If  fruits  are  sweet  before  they're  time  to  yellow, 
How  luscious  will  they  be  when  they  are  mellow ! 
If  first  year's  shoots  such  noble  clusters  send, 
What  laden  boughs,  Engedi-like,  may  we  expect  in  the  end  !" 

These  lines  are  more  prophetic,  perhaps,  than  the  writer  imagined. 

Sparks. 

This  uncle  Benjamin  died  in  Boston,  in  1728,  leaving  one  son,  Samuel, 
the  only  survivor  of  ten  children.  This  son  had  an  only  child,  who  died 
in  1775,  leaving  four  daughters.  There  are  now  no  male  descendants 
of  Dr.  Franklin's  grandfather  living  who  bear  his  name.  The  Doctor's 
eldest  son  William  left  one  son,  William  Temple  Franklin,  who  died 
without  issue,  bearing  his  name.  His  second  son,  Francis  Folger,  died 
when  about  four  years  of  age.  His  very  clever  daughter  Sarah  married 
Richard  Bache  in  1767.  Their  descendants  are — Benjamin  Franklin 
Bache,  who  married  Margaret  Marcoe  ;  William,  who  married  Catha 
rine  Wistar ;  Deborah,  who  married  William  J.  Duane  ;  Richard,  who 
married  a  daughter  of  Alexander  J.  Dallas  ;  Sarah,  who  married  Thomas 
Sargeant,  together  with  their  children.  B. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  8 1 

still  remain  eight  volumes  in  folio,  and  twenty-four 
in  quarto  and  in  octavo.  A  dealer  in  old  books  met 
with  them,  and  knowing  me  by  my  sometimes  buy 
ing  of  him,  he  brought  them  to  me.  It  seems  my 
uncle  must  have  left  them  here  when  he  went  to 
America,  which  was  above  fifty  years  since.  There 
are  many  of  his  notes  in  the  margins.* 


*  The  Doctor  refers  to  this  trouvaille  in  one  of  his  letters  to  Samuel 
Franklin,  as  follows  : 

"  LONDON,  12  July,  1771. 

"LoviNG  COUSIN  :  I  received  your  kind  letter  of  May  iyth,  and  re 
joice  to  hear  that  you  and  your  good  family  are  well.  My  love  to  them. 
With  this  I  send  you  the  print  you  desire  for  Mr.  Bowen.  He  does  me 
honor  in  accepting  it.  Sally  Franklin  presents  her  duty  to  you  and 
Mrs.  Franklin.  Yesterday  a  very  odd  accident  happened,  which  I  must 
mention  to  you,  as  it  relates  to  your  grandfather.  A  person  that  deals 
in  old  books,  of  whom  I  sometimes  buy,  acquainted  me  that  he  had  a 
curious  collection  of  pamphlets  bound  in  eight  volumes  folio,  and  twenty- 
four  volumes  quarto  and  octavo,  which  he  thought  from  the  subjects  I 
might  like  to  have,  and  that  he  would  sell  them  cheap.  I  desired  to 
see  them,  and  he  brought  them  to  me.  On  examining,  I  found  that 
they  contained  all  the  principal  pamphlets  and  papers  on  public  affairs 
that  had  been  printed  here  from  the  Restoration  down  to  1715.  In  one 
of  the  blank  leaves  at  the  beginning  of  each  volume  the  collector  had 
written  the  titles  of  the  pieces  contained  in  it,  and  the  price  they  cost 
him.  Also  notes  in  the  margin  of  many  of  the  pieces ;  and  the  collector, 
I  find,  from  the  handwriting  and  various  other  circumstances,  was  your 
grandfather,  my  uncle  Benjamin.  Wherefore,  I  the  more  readily  agreed 
to  buy  them.  I  suppose  he  parted  with  them  when  he  left  England  and 
came  to  Boston,  soon  after  your  father,  which  was  about  the  year  1716 
or  1717,  now  more  than  fifty  years  since.  In  whose  hands  they  have 
been  all  this  time  I  know  not  The  oddity  is,  that  the  bookseller,  who 
could  suspect  nothing  of  any  relation  between  me  and  the  collector, 
should  happen  to  make  me  the  offer  of  them.  My  love  to  your  good 
wife  and  children. 

"  Your  affectionate  cousin, 

B.  "  B.  FRANKLIN." 

D* 


82  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

This  obscure  family  of  ours  was  early  in  the  Re 
formation,  and  continued  Protestants  through  the 
reign  of  Queen  Mary,  when  they  were  sometimes 
in  danger  of  trouble  on  account  of  their  zeal  against 
popery.  They  had  got  an  English  Bible,  and  to 
conceal  and  secure  it,  it  was  fastened  open  with 
tapes  under  and  within  the  cover  of  a  joint-stool. 
When  my  great-great-grandfather  read  it  to  his 
family,  he  turned  up  the  joint-stool  upon  his  knees, 
turning  over  the  leaves  then  under  the  tapes.  One 
of  the  children  stood  at  the  door  to  give  notice  if  he 
saw  the  apparitor  coming,  who  was  an  officer  of  the 
spiritual  court.  In  that  case  the  stool  was  turned 
down  again  upon  its  feet,  when  the  Bible  remained 
concealed  under  it  as  before.  This  anecdote  I  had 
from  my  uncle  Benjamin.  The  family  continued 
all  of  the  Church  of  England  till  about  the  end  of 
Charles  the  Second's  reign,  when  some  of  the 
ministers  that  had  been  outed  for  non-conformity 
holding  conventicles  in  Northamptonshire,  Benja 
min  and  Josiah  adhered  to  them,  and  so  continued 
all  their  lives  :  the  rest  of  the  family  remained  with 
the  Episcopal  Church. 

Josiah,  my  father,  married  young,  and  carried  his 
wife  with  three  children  into  New  England,  about 
1682.  The  conventicles  having  been  forbidden  by 
law,  and  frequently  disturbed,  induced  some  con 
siderable  men  of  his  acquaintance  to  remove  to  that 
country,  and  he  was  prevailed  with  to  accompany 
them  thither,  where  they  expected  to  enjoy  their 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  83 

mode  of  religion  with  freedom.  By  the  same  wife 
he  had  four  children  more  born  there,  and  by  a 
second  wife  ten  more,  in  all  seventeen  ;  of  which  I 
remember  thirteen  sitting  at  one  time  at  his  table, 
who  all  grew  up  to  be  men  and  women,  and  mar 
ried  ;  I  was  the  youngest  son,  and  the  youngest  child 
but  two,  and  was  born  in  Boston,  New  England.*  My 
mother,  the  second  wife,  was  Abiah  Folger,  daugh 
ter  of  Peter  Folger,  one  of  the  first  settlers  of  New 
England,  of  whom  honorable  mention  is  made  by 
Cotton  Mather,  in  his  church  history  of  that  country, 
entitled  Magnalia  Christi  Americana,  as  "  a  godly, 
learned  Englishman"  if  I  remember  the  words 
rightly.  I  have  heard  that  he  wrote  sundry  small 
occasional  pieces,  but  only  one  of  them  was  printed, 
which  I  sa\v  now  many  years  since.  It  wras  written 
in  1675,  in  the  home-spun  verse  of  that  time  and 
people,  and  addressed  to  those  then  concerned  in 
the  government  there.  It  was  in  favor  of  liberty  of 
conscience,  and  in  behalf  of  the  Baptists,  Quakers, 
and  other  sectaries  that  had  been  under  persecution, 


*  He  was  born  January  6th,  1 706,  old  style,  being  Sunday,  and  the 
same  as  January  ijth,  new  style,  which  his  biographers  have  usually 
mentioned  as  the  day  of  his  birth.  By  the  records  of  the  Old  South 
Church  in  Boston,  to  which  his  father  and  mother  belonged,  it  appears 
that  he  was  baptized  the  same  day.  In  the  old  public  Register  of 
Births,  still  preserved  in  the  Mayor's  Office  in  Boston,  his  birth  is  re 
corded  under  the  date  of  January  6th,  1 706.  At  this  time  his  father 
occupied  a  house  in  Milk  street,  opposite  to  the  Old  South  Church, 
but  he  removed  shortly  afterward  to  a  house  at  the  corner  of  Hanover 
and  Union  streets,  where  it  is  believed  he  resided  the  remainder  of  his 
life,  and  where  the  son  passed  his  early  years. — Sparks. 


84  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

ascribing  the  Indian  wars,  and  other  distresses  that 
had  befallen  the  country,  to  that  persecution,  as  so 
many  judgments  of  God  to  punish  so  heinous  an 
offense,  and  exhorting  a  repeal  of  those  uncharitable 
laws.  The  whole  appeared  to  me  as  written  with  a 
good  deal  of  decent  plainness  and  manly  freedom. 
The  six  concluding  lines  I  remember,  though  I  have 
forgotten  the  two  first  of  the  stanza ;  but  the  purport 
of  them  was,  that  his  censures  proceeded  from  good 
will,  and,  therefore  he  \vould  be  known  to  be  the 
author. 

"  Because  to  be  a  libeller  (says  he) 

I  hate  it  with  my  heart ; 
From  Sherburne*  town,  where  now  I  dwell 

My  name  I  do  put  here  ; 
Without  offense  your  real  friend, 

It  is  Peter  Folgier."t 


*  The  poem,  if  such  it  may  be  called,  of  which  these  are  the  closing 
lines,  extends  through  fourteen  pages  of  a  duodecimo  pamphlet,  entitled 
"  A  Looking-Glass  for  the  Times  ;  or  the  former  spirit  of  New  England 
revived  in  this  generation,  by  Peter  Folger."  It  is  dated  at  the  end, 
"  April  23d,  1676."  The  lines,  which  immediately  precede  those  quoted 
by  Dr.  Franklin,  and  which  are  necessary  to  complete  the  sentiment 
intended  to  be  conveyed  by  the  author,  are  the  following : 

"  I  am  for  peace  and  not  for  war, 

And  that's  the  reason  why 
I  write  more  plain  than  some  men  do, 

That  use  to  daub  and  lie. 
But  I  shall  cease,  and  set  my  name 

To  what  I  here  insert, 
Because  to  be  a  libeler 

I  hate  it  with  my  heart." 

t  The  author's  muse  speaks  even  in  the  title-page,  and  explains  to 
the  reader  his  design  in  writing  the  "  Looking-Glass  for  the  Times  :" 

"  Let  all  that  read  these  verses  know, 
That  I  intend  something  to  show 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  85 

My  elder  brothers  were  all  put  apprentices  to 
different  trades.  I  was  put  to  the  grammar-school 
at  eight  years  of  age,  my  father  intending  to  devote 
me,  as  the  tithe  of  his  sons,  to  the  service  of  the 
Church.  My  early  readiness  in  learning  to  read 
(which  must  have  been  very  early,  as  I  do  not  re 
member  when  I  could  not  read) ,  and  the  opinion  of 
all  his  friends,  that  I  should  certainly  make  a  good 
scholar,  encouraged  him  in  this  purpose  of  his.  My 
uncle  Benjamin,  too,  approved  of  it,  and  proposed 
to  give  me  all  his  short-hand  volumes  of  sermons,  I 
suppose  as  a  stock  to  set  up  with,  if  I  would  learn 
his  character.  I  continued,  however,  at  the  gram 
mar-school  not  quite  one  year,  though  in  that  time  I 
had  risen  gradually  from  the  middle  of  the  class  of 
that  year  to  be  the  head  of  it,  and  farther  was  removed 
into  the  next  class  above  it,  in  order  to  go  with  that 
into  the  third  at  the  end  of  the  year.  But  my  father, 
in  the  mean  time,  from  a  view  of  the  expense  of  a 
college  education,  which  having  so  large  a  family 
he  could  not  well  afford,  and  the  mean  living  many 
so  educated  were  afterwards  able  to  obtain — reasons 
that  he  gave  to  his  friends  in  my  hearing — altered 
his  first  intention,  took  me  from  the  grammar-school, 
and  sent  me  to  a  school  for  writing  and  arithmetic, 


About  our  war,  how  it  hath  been, 

And  also  what  is  the  chief  sin, 

That  God  doth  so  with  us  contend, 

And  when  these  wars  are  like  to  end, 

Read  then  in  love  ;  do  not  despise 

What  here  is  set  before  thine  eyes." — Sparks. 


86  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

kept  by  a  then  famous  man,  Mr.  George  Brownell, 
very  successful  in  his  profession  generally,  and  that 
by  mild,  encouraging  methods.  Under  him  I  ac 
quired  fair  writing  pretty  soon,  but  I  failed  in  the 
arithmetic,  and  made  no  progress  in  it.  At  ten 
years  old  I  was  taken  home  to  assist  my  father  in 
his  business,  which  was  that  of  a  tallow-chandler 
and  sope-boiler ;  a  business  he  was  not  bred  to,  but 
had  assumed  on  his  arrival  in  New  England,  and 
on  finding  his  dying  trade  would  not  maintain  his 
family,  being  in  little  request.  Accordingly,  I  was 
employed  in  cutting  wick  for  the  candles,  filling  the 
dipping  mold  and  the  molds  for  cast  candles,  at 
tending  the  shop,  going  of  errands,  etc. 

I  disliked  the  trade,  and  had  a  strong  inclination 
for  the  sea,  but  my  father  declared  against  it ;  how 
ever,  living  near  the  water,  I  was  much  in  and 
about  it,  learnt  early  to  swim  well,  and  to  man 
age  boats  ;  and  when  in  a  boat  or  canoe  with  other 
boys,  I  was  commonly  allowed  to  govern,  especially 
in  any  case  of  difficulty ;  and  upon  other  occasions 
I  was  generally  a  leader  among  the  boys,  and  some 
times  led  them  into  scrapes,  of  which  I  will  mention 
one  instance,  as  it  shows  an  early  projecting  public 
spirit,  tho'  not  then  justly  conducted. 

There  was  a  salt-marsh  that  bounded  part  of  the 
mill-pond,  on  the  edge  of  which,  at  high  water,  we 
used  to  stand  to  fish  for  minnows.  By  much  tramp 
ling,  we  had  made  it  a  mere  quagmire.  My  pro 
posal  was  to  build  a  wharff  there  fit  for  us  to  stand 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  87 

upon,  and  I  showed  my  comrades  a  large  heap  of 
stones,  which  were  intended  for  a  new  house  near 
the  marsh,  and  which  would  very  well  suit  our  pur 
pose.  Accordingly,  in  the  evening,  when  the  work 
men  were  gone,  I  assembled  a  number  of  my 
play-fellowrs,  and  working  with  them  diligently  like 
so  many  emmets,  sometimes  two  or  three  to  a  stone, 
we  brought  them  all  away  and  built  our  little 
wharff.  The  next  morning  the  workmen  were  sur 
prised  at  missing  the  stones,  which  were  found  in 
our  wharff.  Inquiry  was  made  after  the  removers  ; 
we  were  discovered  and  complained  of;  several  of 
us  were  corrected  by  our  fathers  ;  and,  though  I 
pleaded  the  usefulness  of  the  work,  mine  convinced 
me  that  nothing  was  useful  which  was  not  honest. 

I  think  you  may  like  to  know  something  of  his 
person  and  character.  He  had  an  excellent  consti 
tution  of  body,  was  of  middle  stature,  but  well  set, 
and  very  strong ;  he  was  ingenious,  could  draw 
prettily,  was  skilled  a  little  in  music,  and  had  a  clear 
pleasing  voice,  so  that  when  he  played  psalm  tunes 
on  his  violin  and  sung  withal,  as  he  sometimes  did 
in  an  evening  after  the  business  of  the  day  was  over, 
it  was  extremely  agreeable  to  hear.  He  had  a 
mechanical  genius  too,  and,  on  occasion,  was  very 
handy  in  the  use  of  other  tradesmen's  tools ;  but  his 
great  excellence  lay  in  a  sound  understanding  and 
solid  judgment  in  prudential  matters,  both  in  private 
and  publick  affairs.  In  the  latter,  indeed,  he  was  never 
employed,  the  numerous  family  he  had  to  educate 


88  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

and  the  straitness  of  his  circumstances  keeping  him 
close  to  his  trade  ;  but  I  remember  well  his  being 
frequently  visited  by  leading  people,  who  consulted 
him  for  his  opinion  in  affairs  of  the  town  or  of  the 
church  he  belonged  to,  and  showed  a  good  deal  of 
respect  for  his  judgment  and  advice  :  he  was  also 
much  consulted  by  private  persons  about  their  affairs 
when  any  difficulty  occurred,  and  frequently  chosen 
an  arbitrator  between  contending  parties.  At  his 
table  he  liked  to  have,  as  often  as  he  could,  some 
sensible  friend  or  neighbor  to  converse  with,  and 
always  took  care  to  start  some  ingenious  or  useful 
topic  for  discourse,  which  might  tend  to  improve 
the  minds  of  his  children.  By  this  means  he  turned 
our  attention  to  what  was  good,  just,  and  prudent  in 
the  conduct  of  life  ;  and  little  or  no  notice  was  ever 
taken  of  what  related  to  the  victuals  on  the  table, 
whether  it  was  well  or  ill  dressed,  in  or  out  of  sea 
son,  of  good  or  bad  flavor,  preferable  or  inferior  to 
this  or  that  other  thing  of  the  kind,  so  that  I  was 
bro't  up  in  such  a  perfect  inattention  to  those 
matters  as  to  be  quite  indifferent  what  kind  of  food 
was  set  before  me,  and  so  unobservant  of  it,  that  to 
this  day  if  I  am  asked  I  can  scarce  tell  a  few  hours 
after  dinner  what  I  dined  upon.  This  has  been  a 
convenience  to  me  in  travelling,  where  my  com 
panions  have  been  sometimes  very  unhappy  for 
want  of  a  suitable  gratification  of  their  more  delicate, 
because  better  instructed,  tastes  and  appetites. 

My  mother  had  likewise  an  excellent  constitution  : 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  89 

she  suckled  all  her  ten  children.  I  never  knew 
either  my  father  or  mother  to  have  any  sickness  but 
that  of  which  they  dy'd,  he  at  89,  and  she  at  85 
years  of  age.  They  lie  buried  together  at  Boston, 
where  I  some  years  since  placed  a  marble  over  their 
grave,  with  this  inscription  : 

JOSIAH  FRANKLIN, 

and 

ABIAH  his  wife, 

lie  here  interred. 

They  lived  lovingly  together  in  wedlock 

fifty-five  years. 

Without  an  estate,  or  any  gainful  employment, 
By  constant  labor  and  industry, 

with  God's  blessing, 
They  maintained  a  large  family 

comfortably, 

and  brought  up  thirteen  children 
and  seven  grandchildren 

reputably. 

From  this  instance,  reader, 
Be  encouraged  to  diligence  in  thy  calling, 

And  distrust  not  Providence. 
He  was  a  pious  and  prudent  man  ; 
She,  a  discreet  and  virtuous  woman. 

Their  youngest  son, 
In  filial  regard  to  their  memory, 

Places  this  stone. 

J.  F.  born  1655,  died  1744,  ^Etat  89. 
A.  F.  born  1667,  died  1752, 85.* 


*  The  marble  stone  on  which  this  inscription  was  engraved  having 
become  decayed,  and  the  inscription  itself  defaced  by  time,  a  more 
durable  monument  has  been  erected  over  the  graves  of  the  father  and 
mother  of  Franklin.  The  suggestion  was  first  made  at  a  meeting  of 
the  Building  Committee  of  the  Bunker  Hill  Monument  Association  in 
the  autumn  of  1826,  and  it  met  with  universal  approbation.  A  com 
mittee  of  managers  was  organized,  and  an  amount  of  money  adequate 
8* 


90  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

By  my  rambling  digressions  I  perceive  myself  to 
be  grown  old.  I  us'd  to  write  more  methodically. 
But  one  does  not  dress  for  private  company  as  for  a 
publick  ball.  'Tis  perhaps  only  negligence. 

To  return :    I   continued  thus    employed   in    my 


to  the  object  was  soon  contributed  by  the  voluntary  subscriptions  of  a 
large  number  of  the  citizens  of  Boston.  The  corner-stone  was  laid  on 
the  1 5th  of  June,  1827,  and  an  address  appropriate  to  the  occasion  was 
pronounced  by  General  Henry  A.  8.  Dearborn.  The  monument  is  an 
obelisk  of  granite,  twenty-one  feet  high,  which  rests  on  a  square  base 
measuring  seven  feet  on  each  side  and  two  feet  in  height.  The  obelisk 
is  composed  of  five  massive  blocks  of  granite,  placed  one  above  another. 
On  one  side  is  the  name  of  Franklin  in  large  bronze  letters,  and  a  little 
below  is  a  tablet  of  bronze,  thirty-two  inches  long  and  sixteen  wide, 
sunk  into  the  stone.  On  this  tablet  is  engraven  Dr.  Franklin's  original 
inscription,  as  quoted  in  the  text,  and  beneath  it  are  the  following  lines: 

THE  MARBLE  TABLET, 

Bearing  the  above  inscription, 

Having  been  dilapidated  by  the  ravages  of  time, 

A  number  of  citizens, 

Entertaining  the  most  profound  veneration 

For  the  memory  of  the  illustrious 

BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN, 

And  desirous  of  reminding  succeeding  generations 

That  he  was  born  in  Boston, 

A.  D.  MDCCVL, 

Erected  this 

Obelisk 

Over  the  grave  of  his  parents, 
MDCCCXXVII. 

A  silver  plate  was  deposited  under  the  corner-stone,  with  an  inscrip 
tion  commemorative  of  the  occasion,  a  part  of  which  is  as  follows : 
"  This  monument  was  erected  over  the  remains  of  the  parents  of  Ben 
jamin  Franklin  by  the  citizens  of  Boston,  from  respect  to  the  private 
character  and  public  services  of  this  illustrious  patriot  and  philosopher, 
and  for  the  many  tokens  of  his  affectionate  attachment  to  his  native 
town. ' ' — Sparks. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  91 

father's  business  for  two  years,  that  is,  till  I  was 
twelve  years  old;  and  my  brother  John,  who  was 
bred  to  that  business,  having  left  my  father,  mar 
ried,  and  set  up  for  himself  at  Rhode  Island,  there 
was  all  appearance  that  I  was  destined  to  supply  his 
place,  and  become  a  tallow-chandler.  But  my  dis 
like  to  the  trade  continuing,  my  father  \vas  under 
apprehensions  that  if  he  did  not  find  one  for  me 
more  agreeable,  I  should  break  away  and  get  to 
sea,  as  his  son  Josiah  had  done,  to  his  great  vexa 
tion.  He  therefore  sometimes  took  me  to  walk  with 
him.  and  see  joiners,  bricklayers,  turners,  braziers, 
etc.,  at  their  work,  that  he  might  observe  my  incli 
nation,  and  endeavor  to  fix  it  on  some  trade  or  other 
on  land.  It  has  ever  since  been  a  pleasure  to  me 
to  see  good  workmen  handle  their  tools ;  and  it  has 
been  useful  to  me,  having  learnt  so  much  by  it  as 
to  be  able  to  do  little  jobs  myself  in  my  house  when 
a  workman  could  not  readily  be  got,  and  to  con 
struct  little  machines  for  my  experiments,  while  the 
intention  of  making  the  experiment  \vas  fresh  and 
warm  in  my  mind.  My  father  at  last  fixed  upon 
the  cutler's  trade,  and  my  uncle  Benjamin's  son 
Samuel,  who  was  bred  to  that  business  in  London, 
being  about  that  time  established  in  Boston,  I  was 
sent  to  be  with  him  some  time  on  liking.  But  his 
expectations  of  a  fee  with  me  displeasing  my  father, 
I  was  taken  home  again. 

From   a   child  I  was  fond  of  reading,  and  all  the 
little  money  that  came  into  my  hands  was  ever  laid 


92  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

out  in  books.  Pleased  with  the  Pilgrim's  Progress, 
my  first  collection  was  of  John  Bunyan's  works  in 
separate  little  volumes.  I  afterward  sold  them  to 
enable  me  to  buy  R.  Burton's  Historical  Collections  ; 
they  were  small  chapmen's  books,  and  cheap,  40 
or  50  in  all.  My  father's  little  library  consisted 
chiefly  of  books  in  polemic  divinity,  most  of  wrhich 
I  read,  and  have  since  often  regretted  that,  at  a  time 
when  I  had  such  a  thirst  for  knowledge,  more  proper 
books  had  not  fallen  in  my  way,  since  it  was  now 
resolved  I  should  not  be  a  clergyman.  Plutarch's 
Lives  there  was  in  which  I  read  abundantly,  and  I 
still  think  that  time  spent  to  great  advantage.  There 
was  also  a  book  of  De  Foe's,  called  an  Essay  on 
Projects,  and  another  of  Dr.  Mather's,  called  Essays 
to  do  Good,  which  perhaps  gave  me  a  turn  of  think 
ing  that  had  an  influence  on  some  of  the  principal 
future  events  of  my  life. 

This  bookish  inclination  at  length  determined  my 
father  to  make  me  a  printer,  though  he  had  already 
one  son  (James)  of  that  profession.  In  1717  my 
brother  James  returned  from  England  with  a  press 
and  letters  to  set  up  his  business  in  Boston.  I  liked 
it  much  better  than  that  of  my  father,  but  still  had  a 
hankering  for  the  sea.  To  prevent  the  apprehended 
effect  of  such  an  inclination,  my  father  was  impa 
tient  to  have  me  bound  to  my  brother.  I  stood  out 
some  time,  but  at  last  was  persuaded,  and  signed 
the  indentures  when  I  was  yet  but  twelve  years  old. 
I  was  to  serve  as  an  apprentice  till  I  was  twenty-one 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  93 

years  of  age,  only  I  was  to  be  allowed  journeyman's 
wages  during  the  last  year.  In  a  little  time  I  made 
great  proficiency  in  the  business,  and  became  a 
useful  hand  to  my  brother.  I  now  had  access  to 
better  books.  An  acquaintance  with  the  apprentices 
of  booksellers  enabled  me  sometimes  to  borrow  a 
small  one,  which  I  was  careful  to  return  soon  and 
clean.  Often  I  sat  up  in  my  room  reading  the 
greatest  part  of  the  night,  when  the  book  was  bor 
rowed  in  the  evening  and  to  be  returned  early  in 
the  morning,  lest  it  should  be  missed  or  wanted. 

And  after  some  time  an  ingenious  tradesman,  Mr. 
Matthew  Adams,  who  had  a  pretty  collection  of 
books,  and  who  frequented  our  printing-house,  took 
notice  of  me,  invited  me  to  his  library,  and  very 
kindly  lent  me  such  books  as  I  chose  to  read.  I 
now  took  a  fancy  to  poetry,  and  made  some  little 
pieces ;  my  brother,  thinking  it  might  turn  to  ac 
count,  encouraged  me,  and  put  me  on  composing 
occasional  ballads.  One  was  called  The  Light 
house  Tragedy,  and  contained  an  account  of  the 
drowning  of  Captain  Worthilake,  with  his  two 
daughters :  the  other  was  a  sailor's  song,  on  the 
taking  of  Teach  (or  Blackbeard)  the  pirate.  They 
were  wretched  stuff,  in  the  Grub-street-ballad  style ; 
and  when  they  were  printed  he  sent  me  about  the 
town  to  sell  them.  The  first  sold  wonderfully,  the 
event  being  recent,  having  made  a  great  noise. 
This  flattered  my  vanity  ;  but  my  father  discouraged 
me  by  ridiculing  my  performances,  and  telling 


94  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

me  verse-makers  were  generally  beggars.  So  I 
escaped  being  a  poet,  most  probably  a  very  bad 
one ;  but  as  prose  writing  has  been  of  great  use  to 
me  in  the  course  of  my  life,  and  was  a  principal 
means  of  my  advancement,  I  shall  tell  you  how, 
in  such  a  situation,  I  acquired  what  little  ability  I 
have  in  that  way. 

There  was  another  bookish  lad  in  the  town,  John 
Collins  by  name,  with  whom  I  was  intimately  ac 
quainted.  We  sometimes  disputed,  and  very  fond 
we  were  of  argument,  and  very  desirous  of  confut 
ing  one  another,  which  disputatious  turn,  by  the 
way,  is  apt  to  become  a  very  bad  habit,  making 
people  often  extremely  disagreeable  in  company  by 
the  contradiction  that  is  necessary  to  bring  it  into 
practice  ;  and  thence,  besides  souring  and  spoiling 
the  conversation,  is  productive  of  disgusts  and,  per 
haps  enmities  where  you  may  have  occasion  for 
friendship.  I  had  caught  it  by  reading  my  father's 
books  of  dispute  about  religion.  Persons  of  good 
sense,  I  have  since  observed,  seldom  fall  into  it, 
except  lawyers,  university  men,  and  men  of  all 
sorts  that  have  been  bred  at  Edinborough. 

A  question  was  once,  somehow  or  other,  started 
between  Collins  and  me,  of  the  propriety  of  educat 
ing  the  female  sex  in  learning,  and  their  abilities  for 
study.  He  was  of  opinion  that  it  was  improper, 
and  that  they  were  naturally  unequal  to  it.  I  took 
the  contrary  side,  perhaps  a  little  for  dispute's  sake. 
He  was  naturally  more  eloquent,  had  a  ready  plenty 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  95 

of  words ;  and  sometimes,  as  I  thought,  bore  me 
down  more  by  his  fluency  than  by  the  strength  of 
his  reasons.  As  we  parted  without  settling  the 
point,  and  were  not  to  see  one  another  again  for 
some  time,  I  sat  down  to  put  my  arguments  in  writ 
ing,  which  I  copied  fair  and  sent  to  him.  He  an 
swered,  and  I  replied.  Three  or  four  letters  of  a 
side  had  passed,  when  my  father  happened  to  find 
my  papers  and  read  them.  Without  entering  into 
the  discussion,  he  took  occasion  to  talk  to  me  about 
the  manner  of  my  writing ;  observed  that,  though  I 
had  the  advantage  of  my  antagonist  in  correct  spelling 
and  pointing  (which  I  ow'd  to  the  printing-house), 
I  fell  far  short  in  elegance  of  expression,  in  method 
and  in  perspicuity,  of  which  he  convinced  me  by 
several  instances.  I  saw  the  justice  of  his  remarks, 
and  thence  grew  more  attentive  to  the  manner  in 
writing,  and  determined  to  endeavor  at  improve 
ment. 

About  this  time  I  met  with  an  odd  volume  of  the 
Spectator.  It  was  the  third.  I  had  never  before 
seen  any  of  them.  I  bought  it,  read  it  over  and 
over,  and  was  much  delighted  with  it.  I  thought 
the  writing  excellent,  and  wished,  if  possible,  to 
imitate  it.  With  this  view  I  took  some  of  the 
papers,  and,  making  short  hints  of  the  sentiment  in 
each  sentence,  laid  them  by  a  few  days,  and  then, 
without  looking  at  the  book,  try'd  to  compleat  the 
papers  again,  by  expressing  each  hinted  sentiment  at 
length,  and  as  fully  as  it  had  been  expressed  before,  in 


96  AUTOBIOGRAPHT  OF 

any  suitable  words  that  should  come  to  hand.  Then  I 
compared  my  Spectator  \\i\\\  the  original,  discovered 
some  of  my  faults,  and  corrected  them.  But  I  found 
I  wanted  a  stock  of  words,  or  a  readiness  in  recol 
lecting  and  using  them,  which  I  thought  I  should 
have  acquired  before  that  time  if  I  had  gone  on 
making  verses ;  since  the  continual  occasion  for 
words  of  the  same  import,  but  of  different  length, 
to  suit  the  measure,  or  of  different  sound  for  the 
rhyme,  would  have  laid  me  under  a  constant  neces 
sity  of  searching  for  variety,  and  also  have  tended 
to  fix  that  variety  in  my  mind,  and  make  me  master 
of  it.  Therefore  I  took  some  of  the  tales  and 
turned  them  into  verse ;  and,  after  a  time,  when  I 
had  pretty  well  forgotten  the  prose,  turned  them 
back  again.  I  also  sometimes  jumbled  my  collec 
tions  of  hints  into  confusion,  and  after  some  weeks 
endeavored  to  reduce  them  into  the  best  order,  be 
fore  I  began  to  form  the  full  sentences  and  compleat 
the  paper.  This  was  to  teach  me  method  in  the 
arrangement  of  thoughts.  By  comparing  my  work 
afterwards  with  the  original,  I  discovered  many  faults 
and  amended  them  ;  but  I  sometimes  had  the  pleasure 
of  fancying  that,  in  certain  particulars  of  small  im 
port,  I  had  been  lucky  enough  to  improve  the 
method  or  the  language,  and  this  encouraged  me  to 
think  I  might  possibly  in  time  come  to  be  a  tolerable 
English  writer,  of  which  I  was  extreamly  ambitious. 
My  time  for  these  exercises  and  for  reading  was  at 
night,  after  work  or  before  it  began  in  the  morning, 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  97 

or  on  Sundays,  when  I  contrived  to  be  in  the  print 
ing-house  alone,  evading  as  much  as  I  could  the 
common  attendance  on  public  worship  which  my 
father  used  to  exact  of  me  when  I  was  under  his 
care,  and  which  indeed  I  still  thought  a  duty,  though 
I  could  not,  as  it  seemed  to  me,  afford  time  to  prac 
tise  it. 

When  about  16  years  of  age  I  happened  to 
meet  with  a  book,  written  by  one  Tryon,  recom 
mending  a  vegetable  diet.  I  determined  to  go  into 
it.  My  brother,  being  yet  unmarried,  did  not  keep 
house,  but  boarded  himself  and  his  apprentices  in 
another  family.  My  refusing  to  eat  flesh  occasioned 
an  inconveniency,  and  I  was  frequently  chid  for  my 
singularity.  I  made  myself  acquainted  with  Tryon's 
manner  of  preparing  some  of  his  dishes,  such  as 
boiling  potatoes  or  rice,  making  hasty  pudding,  and 
a  few  others,  and  then  proposed  to  my  brother,  that 
if  he  would  give  me,  weekly,  half  the  money  he  paid 
for  my  board,  I  would  board  myself.  He  instantly 
agreed  to  it,  and  I  presently  found  that  I  could  save 
half  what  he  paid  me.  This  was  an  additional  fund 
for  buying  books.  But  I  had  another  advantage  in 
it.  My  brother  and  the  rest  going  from  the  print 
ing-house  to  their  meals,  I  remained  there  alone, 
and,  despatching  presently  my  light  repast,  which 
often  was  no  more  than  a  bisket  or  a  slice  of  bread, 
a  handful  of  raisins  or  a  tart  from  the  pastry-cook's, 
and  a  glass  of  water,  had  the  rest  of  the  time  till 
their  return  for  study,  in  which  I  made  the  greater 


98  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

progress,  from  that  greater  clearness  of  head  and 
quicker  apprehension  which  usually  attend  temper 
ance  in  eating  and  drinking. 

And  now  it  was  that,  being  on  some  occasion 
made  asham'd  of  my  ignorance  in  figures,  which  I 
had  twice  failed  in  learning  when  at  school,  I  took 
Cocker's  book  of  Arithmetick,  and  went  through  the 
whole  by  myself  with  great  ease.  I  also  read  Sel 
ler's  and  Shermy's  books  of  Navigation,  and  became 
acquainted  with  the  little  geometry  they  contain ; 
but  never  proceeded  far  in  that  science.  And  I  read 
about  this  time  Locke  on  Human  Understanding, 
and  the  Art  of  Thinking,  by  Messrs,  du  Port  Royal.* 


*  Cabanis,  in  the  notice  which  he  prepared  of  Franklin  shortly  after 
the  philosopher's  death,  says,  in  reference  to  his  reading  at  this  time  : 
"  We  have  it  also  from  him  that  about  this  time,  for  the  first,  he  read  a 
very  bad  translation  of  the  Provincial  Letters.  He  was  ravished  by 
them.  He  read  them  over  many  times.  They  were  one  of  the  French 
books  he  most  esteemed." — (Euvres  Complets,  vol.  v.,  p.  228. 

The  discrepancy  between  these  two  statements  provokes  the  remark 
that  at  the  time  Franklin  wrote  this  portion  of  the  Memoirs  he  did  not 
know  Cabanis.  It  is  probable  that  he  read  and  was  much  impressed 
by  both  works,  and  at  different  epochs  of  his  life  and  with  different 
persons  dwelt  sometimes  upon  the  importance  of  one  and  sometimes 
of  the  other  to  his  intellectual  training. 

Speaking  of  the  three  particular  books  which  may  have  remotely 
contributed  to  form  the  historian  of  the  Roman  Empire,  Gibbon  says  : 
"  From  the  Provincial  Letters  of  Pascal,  which  almost  every  year  I  have 
perused  with  new  pleasure,  I  learned  to  manage  the  weapon  of  grave 
and  temperate  irony  even  on  subjects  of  ecclesiastical  solemnity." — Mis 
cellaneous  Works  of  Gibbon,  in  5  vols.,  vol.  i.  p.  96. 

Reasoning  post  hoc  propter  hoc,  Franklin  might  have  made  the  same 
confession  with  equal  propriety.  Not  Gibbon  himself  was  a  master  of 
a  more  refined  and  decorous  irony.  I  will  venture  to  give  an  illustra 
tion  of  his  skill  in  the  management  of  this  most  dangerous  weapon 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  99 

While  I  was  intent  on  improving  my  language,  I 
met  with  an  English  grammar  (I  think  it  was  Green 
wood's),  at  the  end  of  which  there  were  two  little 
sketches  of  the  arts  of  rhetoric  and  logic,  the  latter 
finishing  \vith  a  specimen  of  a  dispute  in  the  Socratic 
method ;  and  soon  after  I  procured  Xenophon's  Me 
morable  Things  of  Socrates,  wherein  there  are  many 
instances  of  the  same  method.  I  was  charm'd  with 
it,  adopted  it,  dropt  my  abrupt  contradiction  and 
positive  argumentation,  and  put  on  the  humble  in 
quirer  and  doubter.  And  being  then,  from  reading 
Shaftesbury  and  Collins,  become  a  real  doubter  in 
many  points  of  our  religious  doctrine,  I  found  this 
method  safest  for  myself  and  very  embarassing  to 
those  against  whom  I  used  it ;  therefore  I  took  a  de 
light  in  it,  practis'd  it  continually,  and  grew  very 
artful  and  expert  in  drawing  people,  even  of  supe 
rior  knowledge,  into  concessions,  the  consequences 


here,  only  becuu.se  it  has  never  been  in  print.  It  appears  in  a  letter 
written  by  the  Doctor  shortly  after  his  final  return  from  Europe,  to  his 
friend  Le  Ray  de  Chaumont,  one  of  whose  houses  at  Passy  he  occupied 
during  his  entire  residence  near  the  Court  of  France.  I  am  indebted 
to  his  grandson,  M.  le  Ray  de  Chaumont,  who  still  lives  in  Paris  in 
the  enjoyment  of  a  green  old  age,  for  a  copy  of  the  original.  In  this 
letter,  referring  to  a  claim  sent  in  by  his  maitre  d'hotel,  for  bills  already 
once  paid,  the  Doctor  says  : 

"As  to  Tinck,  the  maitre  d'hotel,  he  was  fairly  paid  in  money  for  every 
just  demand  he  could  make  against  us,  and  we  have  his  receipts  in  full. 
But  there  are  knaves  in  the  world  whom  no  writing  can  bind,  and  when 
you  think  you  have  finished  with  them,  they  come  with  demands  after 
demands,  sans  fin.  He  was  continually  saying  of  himself,  Je  suis  honnete 
homme,  je  snis  honnete  homme.  But  I  always  suspected  he  was  mis 
taken  ;  and  so  it  proves." 


100  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

of  which  they  did  not  foresee,  entangling  them  in 
difficulties  out  of  which  they  could  not  extricate 
themselves,  and  so  obtaining  victories  that  neither 
myself  nor  my  cause  always  deserved.  I  continu'd 
this  method  some  few  years,  but  gradually  left  it, 
retaining  only  the  habit  of  expressing  myself  in 
terms  of  modest  diffidence  ;  never  using,  when  I 
advanced  any  thing  that  may  possibly  be  disputed, 
the  words  certainly,  undoubtedly,  or  any  others  that 
give  the  air  of  positiveness  to  an  opinion ;  but 
rather  say,  I  conceive  or  apprehend  a  thing  to  be  so 
and  so ;  it  appears  to  me,  or  I  should  think  it  so  or 
so,  for  such  and  such  reasons  ;  or  /  imagine  it  to  be 
so;  or  it  is  so,  if  I  am  not  mistaken.  This  habit,  I 
believe,  has  been  of  great  advantage  to  me  when  I 
have  had  occasion  to  inculcate  my  opinions,  and 
persuade  men  into  measures  that  I  have  been  from 
time  to  time  engag'd  in  promoting  ;  and,  as  the  chief 
ends  of  conversation  are  to  inform  or  to  be  informed, 
to  -please  or  to  -persuade,  I  wish  well-meaning,  sensi 
ble  men  would  not  lessen  their  power  of  doing  good 
by  a  positive,  assuming  manner,  that  seldom  fails  to 
disgust,  tends  to  create  opposition,  and  to  defeat 
every  one  of  those  purposes  for  which  speech  was 
given  to  us,  to  wit,  giving  or  receiving  information 
or  pleasure.  For,  if  you  would  inform,  a  positive  and 
dogmatical  manner  in  advancing  your  sentiments 
may  provoke  contradiction  and  prevent  a  candid 
attention.  If  you  wish  information  and  improve 
ment  from  the  knowledge  of  others,  and  yet  at  the 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  IOI 

same  time  express  yourself  as  firmly  fix'd  in  your 
present  opinions,  modest,  sensible  men,  who  do 
not  love  disputation,  will  probably  leave  you  undis 
turbed  in  the  possession  of  your  error.  And  by  such 
a  manner,  you  can  seldom  hope  to  recommend 
yourself  in  -pleasing  your  hearers,  or  to  persuade 
those  whose  concurrence  you  desire.  Pope  says, 
judiciously  : 

"  Men  should  be  taught  as  ifyo2i  taught  them  nof, 
And  things  unkncnvn  proposed  as  things  forgot ;" 

farther  recommending  to  us 

"  To  speak,  tho'  sure,  with  seeming  diffidence." 

And  he  might  have  coupled  with  this  line  that  which 
he  has  coupled  with  another,  I  think,  less  properly, 

"  For  want  of  modesty  is  want  of  sense." 

If  you  ask,  Why  less  properly?  I  must  repeat  the 
lines, 

"  Immodest  words  admit  of  no  defense, 
For  want  of  modesty  is  want  of  sense." 

Now,  is  not  -want  of  sense  (where  a  man  is  so  un 
fortunate  as  to  want  it)  some  apology  for  his  want 
of  modesty?  and  would  not  the  lines  stand  more 
justly  thus? 

"  Immodest  words  admit  but  this  defense, 
That  want  of  modesty  is  want  of  sense." 

This,  however,  I  should  submit  to  better  judgments. 

My  brother  had,  in  1720  or  1721,  begun  to  print 

a  newspaper.     It  was  the  second  that  appeared  in 

America,  and  was  called  the  New  England  Courant. 


9* 


102  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

The  only  one  before  it  was  the  Boston  News-Letter. 
I  remember  his  being  dissuaded  by  some  of  his 
friends  from  the  undertaking,  as  not  likely  to  suc 
ceed,  one  newspaper  being,  in  their  judgment, 
enough  for  America.*  At  this  time  (1771)  there 
are  not  less  than  five-and-twenty.  He  went  on, 
however,  with  the  undertaking,  and  after  having 
worked  in  composing  the  types  and  printing  off  the 
sheets,  I  was  employed  to  carry  the  papers  thro' 
the  streets  to  the  customers. 

He  had  some  ingenious  men  among  his  friends, 
who  amus'd  themselves  by  writing  little  pieces  for 
this  paper,  which  gain'd  it  credit  and  made  it  more 
in  demand,  and  these  gentlemen  often  visited  us. 
Hearing  their  conversations,  and  their  accounts  of 
the  approbation  their  papers  were  received  with,  I 
was  excited  to  try  my  hand  among  them  ;  but,  being 
still  a  boy,  and  suspecting  that  my  brother  would 
object  to  printing  anything  of  mine  in  his  paper  if 
he  knew  it  to  be  mine,  I  contrived  to  disguise  my 


*  "  This  was  written  from  recollection,  and  it  is  not  surprising  that, 
after  the  lapse  of  fifty  years,  the  author's  memory  should  have  failed 
him  in  regard  to  a  fact  of  small  importance.  The  "  New  England  Cour- 
ant"  was  the  fourth  newspaper  that  appeared  in  America.  The  first 
number  of  the  Boston  News-Letter  was  published  April  24th,  1704. 
This  was  the  first  newspaper  in  America.  The  Boston  Gazette  com 
menced  December  2ist,  1719  ;  the  American  Weekly  Mercury,  at  Phila 
delphia,  December  22d,  1719  ;  the  New  England  Courant,  August  2ist, 
1721.  Dr.  Franklin's  error  of  memory  probably  originated  in  the  cir 
cumstance  of  his  brother  having  been  the  printer  of  the  Boston  Gazette 
when  it  was  first  established.  This  was  the  second  newspaper  published 
in  America." — Sparks. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  103 

hand,  and,  writing  an  anonymous  paper,  I  put  it  in 
at  night  under  the  door  of  the  printing-house.  It 
was  found  in  the  morning,  and  communicated  to  his 
writing  friends  when  they  call'd  in  as  usual.  They 
read  it,  commented  on  it  in  my  hearing,  and  I  had 
the  exquisite  pleasure  of  finding  it  met  with  their 
approbation,  and  that,  in  their  different  guesses  at 
the  author,  none  were  named  but  men  of  some  char 
acter  among  us  for  learning  and  ingenuity.  I  sup 
pose  now  that  I  was  rather  lucky  in  my  judges,  and 
that  perhaps  they  were  not  really  so  very  good  ones 
as  I  then  esteem'd  them. 

Encourag'd,  however,  by  this,  I  wrote  and  con- 
vey'd  in  the  same  way  to  the  press  several  more 
papers  which  were  equally  approv'd  ;  and  I  kept 
my  secret  till  my  small  fund  of  sense  for  such  per 
formances  was  pretty  well  exhausted,  and  then  I  dis 
covered  it,  when  I  began  to  be  considered  a  little 
more  by  my  brother's  acquaintance,  and  in  a  man 
ner  that  did  not  quite  please  him,  as  he  thought, 
probably  with  reason,  that  it  tended  to  make  me  too 
vain.  And,  perhaps,  this  might  be  one  occasion  of 
the  differences  that  we  began  to  have  about  this 
time.  Though  a  brother,  he  considered  himself  as 
my  master,  and  me  as  his  apprentice,  and,  accord 
ingly,  expected  the  same  services  from  me  as  he 
would  from  another,  while  I  thought  he  demean'd 
me  too  much  in  some  he  requir'd  of  me,  who  from 
a  brother  expected  more  indulgence.  Our  disputes 
were  often  brought  before  our  father,  and  I  fancy  I 


104  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

was  either  generally  in  the  right,  or  else  a  better 
pleader,  because  the  judgment  was  generally  in  my 
favor.  But  my  brother  was  passionate,  and  had 
often  beaten  me,  which  I  took  extreamly  amiss ; 
and,  thinking  my  apprenticeship  very  tedious,  I 
was  continually  wishing  for  some  opportunity  of 
shortening  it,  which  at  length  offered  in  a  manner 

&  '  O 

unexpected.* 

One  of  the  pieces  in  our  newspaper  on  some  po 
litical  point,  which  I  have  now  forgotten,  gave 
offense  to  the  Assembly.  He  was  taken  up,  cen- 
sur'd,  and  imprison'd  for  a  month,  by  the  speaker's 
warrant,  I  suppose,  because  he  would  not  discover 
his  author.  I  too  was  taken  up  and  examin'd  be 
fore  the  council ;  but,  tho'  I  did  not  give  them 
any  satisfaction,  they  content'd  themselves  with 
admonishing  me,  and  dismissed  me,  considering 
me,  perhaps,  as  an  apprentice,  who  was  bound  to 
keep  his  master's  secrets. 

During  my  brother's  confinement,  which  I  re 
sented  a  good  deal,  notwithstanding  our  private 
differences,  I  had  the  management  of  the  paper ; 
and  I  made  bold  to  give  our  rulers  some  rubs  in  it, 
which  my  brother  took  very  kindly,  while  others 
began  to  consider  me  in  an  unfavorable  light,  as  a 
young  genius  that  had  a  turn  for  libelling  and  satyr. 
My  brother's  discharge  was  accompany'd  with  an 


*  I  fancy  his  harsh  and  tyrannical  treatment  of  me  might  be  a  means 
of  impressing  me  with  that  aversion  to  arbitrary  power  that  has  stuck 
to  me  through  my  whole  life. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  105 

order  of  the  House  (a  very  odd  one),  that  "  James 
Franklin  should  no  longer  -print  the  fafcr  called 
the  New  England  Courant." 

There  was  a  consultation  held  in  our  printing- 
house  among  his  friends,  what  he  should  do  in  this 
case.  Some  proposed  to  evade  the  order  by  chang 
ing  the  name  of  the  paper ;  but  my  brother,  seeing 
inconveniences  in  that,  it  \vas  finally  concluded  on 
as  a  better  way,  to  let  it  be  printed  for  the  future 
under  the  name  of  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN  ;  and  to 
avoid  the  censure  of  the  Assembly,  that  might  fall 
on  him  as  still  printing  it  by  his  apprentice,  the  con 
trivance  was  that  my  old  indenture  should  be  re- 
turn'd  to  me,  with  a  full  discharge  on  the  back  of 
it,  to  be  shown  on  occasion,  but  to  secure  to  him  the 
benefit  of  my  service,  I  was  to  sign  new  indentures 
for  the  remainder  of  the  term,  which  were  to  be 
kept  private.  A  very  flimsy  scheme  it  was ;  how 
ever,  it  was  immediately  executed,  and  the  paper 
went  on  accordingly,  under  my  name  for  several 
months. 

At  length,  a  fresh  difference  arising  between  my 
brother  and  me,  I  took  upon  me  to  assert  my  free 
dom,  presuming  that  he  would  not  venture  to  pro 
duce  the  new  indentures.  It  was  not  fair  in  me  to 
take  this  advantage,  and  this  I  therefore  reckon  one 
of  the  first  errata  of  my  life  ;  but  the  unfairness  of 
it  weighed  little  with  me,  when  under  the  impres 
sions  of  resentment  for  the  blows  his  passion  too 
often  urged  him  to  bestow  upon  me,  though  he  was 

E  * 


106  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

otherwise  not  an  ill-natur'd  man :    perhaps  I  was 
too  saucy  and  provoking. 

When  he  found  I  would  leave  him,  he  took  care 
to  prevent  my  getting  employment  in  any  other 
printing-house  of  the  town,  by  going  round  and 
speaking  to  every  master,  who  accordingly  refus'd 
to  give  me  work.  I  then  thought  of  going  to  New 
York,  as  the  nearest  place  where  there  was  a  printer  ; 
and  I  was  rather  inclin'd  to  leave  Boston  when,  I 
reflected  that  I  had  already  made  myself  a  little  ob 
noxious  to  the  governing  party,  and,  from  the  arbi 
trary  proceedings  of  the  Assembly  in  my  brother's 
case,  it  was  likely  I  might,  if  I  stay'd,  soon  bring 
myself  into  scrapes  ;  and  farther,  that  my  indiscrete 
disputations  about  religion  began  to  make  me  pointed 
at  with  horror  by  good  people  as  an  infidel  or  atheist. 
I  determined  on  the  point,  but  my  father  now  siding 
with  my  brother,  I  was  sensible  that,  if  I  attempted 
to  go  openly,  means  would  be  used  to  prevent  me. 
My  friend  Collins,  therefore,  undertook  to  manage 
a  little  for  me.  He  agreed  with  the  captain  of  a 
New  York  sloop  for  my  passage,  under  the  notion 
of  my  being  a  young  acquaintance  of  his,  that  had 
got  a  naughty  girl  with  child,  whose  friends  would 
compel  me  to  marry  her,  and  therefore  I  could  not 
appear  or  come  away  publicly.  So  I  sold  some  of 
my  books  to  raise  a  little  money,  was  taken  on  board 
privately,  and  as  we  had  a  fair  wind,  in  three  days 
I  found  myself  in  New  York,  near  300  miles  from 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  IO/ 

home,  a  boy  of  but  17,*  without  the  least  recom 
mendation  to,  or  knowledge  of  any  person  in  the 
place,  and  with  very  little  money  in  my  pocket. 

My  inclinations  for  the  sea  were  by  this  time  worne 
out,  or  I  might  now  have  gratify 'd  them.  But,  hav 
ing  a  trade,  and  supposing  myself  a  pretty  good 
workman,  I  offer'd  my  service  to  the  printer  in  the 
place,  old  Mr.  William  Bradford,  who  had  been  the 
first  printer  in  Pennsylvania,  but  removed  from 
thence  upon  the  quarrel  of  George  Keith.  He  could 
give  me  no  employment,  having  little  to  do,  and 
help  enough  already;  but  says  he,  "My  son  at 
Philadelphia  has  lately  lost  his  principal  hand, 
Aquila  Rose,  by  death;  if  you  go  thither,  I  believe 
he  may  employ  you."  Philadelphia  was  a  hundred 
miles  further ;  I  set  out,  however,  in  a  boat  for 
Amboy,  leaving  my  chest  and  things  to  follow  me 
round  by  sea. 

In  crossing  the  bay,  we  met  with  a  squall  that 
tore  our  rotten  sails  to  pieces,  prevented  our  getting 
into  the  Kill,  and  drove  us  upon  Long  Island.  In 
our  way,  a  drunken  Dutchman,  who  was  a  passen 
ger  too,  fell  overboard ;  when  he  was  sinking,  I 
reached  through  the  water  to  his  shock  pate,  and 
drew  him  up,  so  that  we  got  him  in  again.  His 
ducking  sobered  him  a  little,  and  he  went  to  sleep, 
taking  first  out  of  his  pocket  a  book,  which  he  de- 
sir'd  I  would  dry  for  him.  It  proved  to  be  my  old 


*  This  was  in  October,  1723. — B. 


loS  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

favorite  author,  Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress,  in 
Dutch,  finely  printed  on  good  paper,  with  copper 
cuts,  a  dress  better  than  I  had  ever  seen  it  wear  in 
its  own  language.  I  have  since  found  that  it  has 
been  translated  into  most  of  the  languages  of  Europe, 
and  suppose  it  has  been  more  generally  read  than 
any  other  book,  except  perhaps  the  Bible.  Honest 
John  was  the  first  that  I  know  of  who  mix'd  narra 
tion  and  dialogue  ;  a  method  of  writing  very  engag 
ing  to  the  reader,  who  in  the  most  interesting  parts 
finds  himself,  as  it  were,  brought  into  the  company 
and  present  at  the  discourse.  De  Foe  in  his  Cruso, 
his  Moll  Flanders,  Religious  Courtship,  Family  In 
structor,  and  other  pieces,  has  imitated  it  with  suc 
cess  ;  and  Richardson  has  done  the  same  in  his 
Pamela,  etc. 

When  we  drew  near  the  island,  we  found  it  was 
at  a  place  where  there  could  be  no  landing,  there 
being  a  great  surff  on  the  stony  beach.  So  we 
dropt  anchor,  and  swung  round  towards  the 
shore.  Some  people  came  down  to  the  water  edge 
and  hallow'd  to  us,  as  we  did  to  them  ;  but  the  wind 
was  so  high,  and  the  surff  so  loud, 'that  we  could  not 
hear  so  as  to  understand  each  other.  There  were 
canoes  on  the  shore,  and  we  made  signs,  and  hal 
low'd  that  they  should  fetch  us  ;  but  they  either  did 
not  understand  us,  or  thought  it  impracticable,  so 
they  went  away,  and  night  coming  on,  we  had  no 
remedy  but  to  wait  till  the  wind  should  abate  ;  and, 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  109 

in  the  mean  time,  the  boatman  and  I  concluded  to 
sleep,  if  we  could  ;  and  so  crowded  into  the  scuttle, 
with  the  Dutchman,  who  was  still  wet,  and  the  spray 
beating  over  the  head  of  our  boat,  leak'd  thro'  to  us, 
so  that  we  were  soon  almost  as  wet  as  he.  In  this 
manner  we  lay  all  night,  with  very  little  rest ;  but, 
the  wind  abating  the  next  day,  wre  made  a  shift  to 
reach  Amboy  before  night,  having  been  thirty  hours 
on  the  water,  without  victuals,  or  any  drink  but  a 
bottle  of  filthy  rum,  the  water  we  sail'd  on  being 
salt. 

In  the  evening  I  found  myself  very  feverish,  and 
went  in  to  bed  ;  but,  having  read  somewhere  that  cold 
water  drank  plentifully  was  good  for  a  fever,  I  fol- 
low'd  the  prescription,  sweat  plentifully  most  of  the 
night,  my  fever  left  me,  and  in  the  morning,  cross 
ing  the  ferry,  I  proceeded  on  my  journey  on  foot, 
having  fifty  miles  to  Burlington,  where  I  was  told 
I  should  find  boats  that  \vould  carry  me  the  rest  of 
the  way  to  Philadelphia. 

It  rained  very  hard  all  the  day ;  I  was  thoroughly 
soak'd,  and  by  noon  a  good  deal  tired  ;  so  I  stopt 
at  a  poor  inn,  where  I  staid  all  night,  beginning  now 
to  wish  that  I  had  never  left  home.  I  cut  so  miser 
able  a  figure,  too,  that  I  found,  by  the  questions  ask'd 
me,  I  was  suspected  to  be  some  runaway  servant, 
and  in  danger  of  being  taken  up  on  that  suspicion. 
However,  I  proceeded  the  next  day,  and  got  in  the 
evening  to  an  inn,  within  eight  or  ten  miles  of 
Burlington,  kept  by  one  Dr.  Brown.  He  entered 
10 


no  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

into  conversation  with  me  while  I  took  some  re 
freshment,  and,  finding  I  had  read  a  little,  became 
very  sociable  and  friendly.  Our  acquaintance  con- 
tinu'd  as  long  as  he  liv'd.  He  had  been,  I  imagine, 
an  itinerant  doctor,  for  there  was  no  town  in 
England,  or  country  in  Europe,  of  which  he 
could  not  give  a  very  particular  account.  He 
had  some  letters,  and  was  ingenious,  but  much  of 
an  unbeliever,  and  wickedly  undertook,  some  years 
after,  to  travestie  the  Bible  in  doggrel  verse,  as 
Cotton  had  done  Virgil.  By  this  means  he  set  many 
of  the  facts  in  a  very  ridiculous  light,  and  might 
have  hurt  weak  minds  if  his  work  had  been  pub 
lished  ;  but  it  never  was. 

At  his  house  I  lay  that  night,  and  the  next  morn 
ing  reach'd  Burlington,  but  had  the  mortification  to 
find  that  the  regular  boats  were  gone  a  little  before 
my  coming,  and  no  other  expected  to  go  before 
Tuesday,  this  being  Saturday ;  wherefore  I  returned 
to  an  old  woman  in  the  town,  of  whom  I  had  bought 
gingerbread  to  eat  on  the  water,  and  ask'd  her 
advice.  She  invited  me  to  lodge  at  her  house  till  a 
passage  by  water  should  offer ;  and  being  tired  with 
my  foot  travelling,  I  accepted  the  invitation.  She 
understanding  I  was  a  printer,  would  have  had  me 
stay  at  that  town  and  follow  my  business,  being 
ignorant  of  the  stock  necessary  to  begin  with.  She 
was  very  hospitable,  gave  me  a  dinner  of  ox-cheek 
with  great  good  will,  accepting  only  of  a  pot  of  ale 
in  return  ;  and  I  thought  myself  fixed  till  Tuesday 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  1 1 1 

should  come.  However,  walking  in  the  evening  by 
the  side  of  the  river,  a  boat  came  by,  which  I  found 
was  going  towards  Philadelphia,  with  several  people 
in  her.  They  took  me  in,  and,  as  there  was  no 
wind,  we  row'd  all  the  way  ;  and  about  midnight, 
not  having  yet  seen  the  city,  some  of  the  company 
were  confident  we  must  have  passed  it,  and  would 
row  no  farther  ;  the  others  knew  not  where  we  were  ; 
so  we  put  toward  the  shore,  got  into  a  creek,  landed 
near  an  old  fence,  with  the  rails  of  which  we  made 
a  fire,  the  night  being  cold,  in  October,  and  there 
we  remained  till  daylight.  Then  one  of  the  com 
pany  knew  the  place  to  be  Cooper's  Creek,  a  little 
above  Philadelphia,  which  we  saw  as  soon  as  we 
got  out  of  the  creek,  and  arriv'd  there  about  eight 
or  nine  o'clock  on  the  Sunday  morning,  and  landed 
at  the  Market-street  wharf. 

I  have  been  the  more  particular  in  this  description 
of  my  journey,  and  shall  be  so  of  my  first  entry  into 
that  city,  that  you  may  in  your  mind  compare  such 
unlikely  beginnings  with  the  figure  I  have  since 
made  there.  I  was  in  my  working  dress,  my  best 
cloaths  being  to  come  round  by  sea.  I  was  dirty 
from  my  journey  ;  my  pockets  were  stufF'd  out  with 
shirts  and  stockings,  and  I  knew  no  soul  nor  where 
to  look  for  lodging.  I  was  fatigued  with  travelling, 
rowing  and  want  of  rest,  I  was  very  hungry  ;  and 
my  whole  stock  of  cash  consisted  of  a  Dutch  dollar, 
and  about  a  shilling  in  copper.  The  latter  I  gave 
the  people  of  the  boat  for  my  passage,  who  at  first 


113  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

refus'd  it,  on  account  of  my  rowing ;  but  I  insisted 
on  their  taking  it.  A  man  being  sometimes  more 
generous  when  he  has  but  a  little  money  than  when 
he  has  plenty,  perhaps  thro'  fear  of  being  thought 
to  have  but  little. 

Then  I  walked  up  the  street,  gazing  about  till 
near  the  market-house  I  met  a  boy  with  bread.  I 
had  made  many  a  meal  on  bread,  and,  inquiring 
where  he  got  it,  I  went  immediately  to  the  baker's 
he  directed  me  to,  in  Second-street,  and  ask'd  for 
bisket,  intending  such  as  we  had  in  Boston  ;  but 
they,  it  seems,  were  not  made  in  Philadelphia. 
Then  I  asked  for  a  three-penny  loaf,  and  was  told 
they  had  none  such.  So  not  considering  or  know 
ing  the  difference  of  money,  and  the  greater  cheap 
ness  nor  the  names  of  his  bread,  I  bad  him  give  me 
three-penny  worth  of  any  sort.  He  gave  me,  ac 
cordingly,  three  great  puffy  rolls.  I  was  surpriz'd 
at  the  quantity,  but  took  it,  and,  having  no  room  in 
my  pockets,  walk'd  off  with  a  roll  under  each  arm, 
and  eating  the  other.  Thus  I  went  up  Market-street 
as  far  as  Fourth-street,  passing  by  the  door  of  Mr. 
Read,  my  future  wife's  father;  when  she,  standing 
at  the  door,  saw  me,  and  thought  I  made,  as  I  cer 
tainly  did,  a  most  awkward,  ridiculous  appearance. 
Then  I  turned  and  went  down  Chesnut-street  and 
part  of  Walnut-street,  eating  my  roll  all  the  way, 
and,  coming  round,  found  myself  again  at  Market- 
street  wharf,  near  the  boat  I  came  in,  to  which  I 
went  for  a  draught  of  the  river  water ;  and,  being 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  113 

filled  with  one  of  my  rolls,  gave  the  other  two  to  a 
woman  and  her  child  that  came  down  the  river  in 
the  boat  with  us,  and  were  waiting  to  go  farther. 

Thus  refreshed,  I  walked  again  up  the  street, 
which  by  this  time  had  many  clean-dressed  people 
in  it,  who  were  all  walking  the  same  way.  I  joined 
them,  and  thereby  was  led  into  the  great  meeting 
house  of  the  Quakers  near  the  market.  I  sat  down 
among  them,  and,  after  looking  round  awhile  and 
hearing  nothing  said,  being  very  drowsy  thro' 
labor  and  want  of  rest  the  preceding  night,  I  fell 
fast  asleep,  and  continued  so  till  the  meeting  broke 
up,  when  one  was  kind  enough  to  rouse  me.  This 
was,  therefore,  the  first  house  I  \vas  in,  or  slept  in, 
in  Philadelphia. 

Walking  down  again  toward  the  river,  and,  look 
ing  in  the  faces  of  people,  I  met  a  young  Quaker 
man,  whose  countenance  I  lik'd,  and,  accosting  him, 
requested  he  would  tell  me  where  a  stranger  could 
get  lodging.  We  were  then  near  the  sign  of  the 
Three  Mariners.  "  Here,"  says  he,  "is  one  place 
that  entertains  strangers,  but  it  is  not  a  reputable 
house  ;  if  thee  wilt  walk  with  me,  I'll  show  thee  a 
better.  He  brought  me  to  the  Crooked  Billet  in 
Water-street.  Here  I  got  a  dinner ;  and,  while  I 
was  eating  it,  several  sly  questions  were  asked  me, 
as  it  seemed  to  be  suspected  from  my  youth  and  ap 
pearance,  that  I  might  be  some  runaway. 

After  dinner,  my  sleepiness  return'd,  and  being 
shown  to  a  bed,  I  lay  down  without  undressing,  and 
10  * 


114  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

slept  till  six  in  the  evening,  was  call'd  to  supper, 
went  to  bed  again  very  early,  and  slept  soundly  till 
next  morning.  Then  I  made  myself  as  tidy  as  I 
could,  and  went  to  Andrew  Bradford  the  printer's. 
I  found  in  the  shop  the  old  man  his  father,  whom  I 
had  seen  at  New  York,  and  who,  travelling  on  horse 
back,  had  got  to  Philadelphia  before  me.  He  intro- 
duc'd  me  to  his  son,  who  receiv'd  me  civilly,  gave 
me  a  breakfast,  but  told  me  he  did  not  at  present 
want  a  hand,  being  lately  suppli'd  with  one  ;  but 
there  was  another  printer  in  town,  lately  set  up,  one 
Keimer,  who,  perhaps,  might  employ  me  ;  if  not,  I 
should  be  welcome  to  lodge  at  his  house,  and  he 
would  give  me  a  little  work  to  do  now  and  then  till 
fuller  business  should  offer. 

The  old  gentleman  said  he  would  go  with  me  to 
the  new  printer;  and  when  we  found  him,  "  Neigh 
bor,"  says  Bradford,  "  I  have  brought  to  see  you  a 
young  man  of  your  business ;  perhaps  you  may 
want  such  a  one."  He  ask'd  me  a  few  questions, 
put  a  composing  stick  in  my  hand  to  see  how  I 
work'd,  and  then  said  he  would  employ  me  soon, 
though  he  had  just  then  nothing  for  me  to  do  ;  and, 
taking  old  Bradford,  whom  he  had  never  seen  be 
fore,  to  be  one  of  the  town's  people  that  had  a  good 
will  for  him,  enter'd  into  a  conversation  on  his  pre 
sent  undertaking  and  prospects ;  while  Bradford, 
not  discovering  that  he  was  the  other  printer's  father, 
on  Keimer's  saying  he  expected  soon  to  get  the 
greatest  part  of  the  business  into  his  own  hands, 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  1 15 

drew  him  on  by  artful  questions,  and  starting  little 
doubts,  to  explain  all  his  views,  what  interest  he 
reli'd  on,  and  in  what  manner  he  intended  to  pro 
ceed.  I,  who  stood  by  and  heard  all,  saw  imme 
diately  that  one  of  them  was  a  crafty  old  sophister, 
and  the  other  a  mere  novice.  Bradford  left  me  with 
Keimer,  who  was  greatly  surpris'd  when  I  told  him 
who  the  old  man  was. 

Keimer's  printing-house,  I  found,  consisted  of  an 
old  shatter'd  press,  and  one  small,  worn-out  font  of 
English,  which  he  was  then  using  himself,  composing 
an  Elegy  on  Aquila  Rose,  before  mentioned,  an  in 
genious  young  man,  of  excellent  character,  much 
respected  in  the  town,  clerk  of  the  Assembly,  and  a 
pretty  poet.  Keimer  made  verses  too,  but  very 
indifferently.  He  could  not  be  said  to  write  them, 
for  his  manner  was  to  compose  them  in  the  types 
directly  out  of  his  head.  So  there  being  no  copy, 
but  one  pair  of  cases,  and  the  Elegy  likely  to  require 
all  the  letter,  no  one  could  help  him.  I  endeavor'd 
to  put  his  press  (which  he  had  not  yet  us'd,  and  of 
which  he  understood  nothing)  into  order  fit  to  be 
work'd  with  ;  and,  promising  to  come  and  print  off 
his  Elegy  as  soon  as  he  should  have  got  it  ready,  I 
return'd  to  Bradford's,  who  gave  me  a  little  job  to 
do  for  the  present,  and  there  I  lodged  and  dieted. 
A  few  days  after,  Keimer  sent  for  me  to  print  oft' 
the  Elegy.  And  now  he  had  got  another  pair  of 
cases,  and  a  pamphlet  to  reprint,  on  which  he  set 
me  to  work. 


Il6  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

These  two  printers  I  found  poorly  qualified  for 
their  business.  Bradford  had  not  been  bred  to  it, 
and  was  very  illiterate ;  and  Keimer,  tho'  some 
thing  of  a  scholar,  was  a  mere  compositor,  knowing 
nothing  of  presswork.  He  had  been  one  of  the 
French  prophets,  and  could  act  their  enthusiastic 
agitations.*  At  this  time  he  did  not  profess  any 
particular  religion,  but  something  of  all  on  occasion  ; 
was  very  ignorant  of  the  world,  and  had,  as  I  after 
ward  found,  a  good  deal  of  the  knave  in  his  com 
position.  He  did  not  like  my  lodging  at  Bradford's 
while  I  work'd  with  him.  He  had  a  house,  indeed, 
but  without  furniture,  so  he  could  not  lodge  me ;  but 
he  got  me  a  lodging  at  Mr.  Read's,  before  men 
tioned,  who  was  the  owner  of  his  house  ;  and,  my 
chest  and  clothes  being  come  by  this  time,  I  made 
rather  a  more  respectable  appearance  in  the  eyes 
of  Miss  Read  than  I  had  done  when  she  first  hap- 
pen'd  to  see  me  eating  my  roll  in  the  street. 

I  began  now  to  have  some  acquaintance  among 
the  young  people  of  the  town,  that  were  lovers  of 
reading,  with  whom  I  spent  my  evenings  very  pleas 
antly  ;  and  gaining  money  by  my  industry  and  fru 
gality,  I  lived  very  agreeably,  forgetting  Boston 
as  much  as  I  could,  and  not  desiring  that  any  there 
should  know  where  I  resided,  except  my  friend  Col 
lins,  who  was  in  my  secret,  and  kept  it  when  I  wrote 
to  him.  At  length,  an  incident  happened  that  sent 

*  M.  Laboulaye  presumes  Keimer  was  one  of  the  Camisards  or  Pro 
testants  of  the  Cevennes,  so  persecuted  by  Louis  XIV. — B. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  II 7 

me  back  again  much  sooner  than  I  had  intended. 
I  had  a  brother-in-law,  Robert  Holmes,  master  of  a 
sloop  that  traded  between  Boston  and  Delaware. 
He  being  at  Newcastle,  forty  miles  below  Philadel 
phia,  heard  there  of  me,  and  wrote  me  a  letter  men 
tioning  the  concern  of  my  friends  in  Boston  at  my  ab 
rupt  departure,  assuring  me  of  their  good  will  to  me, 
and  that  every  thing  would  be  accommodated  to  my 
mind  if  I  would  return,  to  which  he  exhorted  me  very 
earnestly.  I  wrote  an  answer  to  his  letter,  thank'd 
him  for  his  advice,  but  stated  my  reasons  for  quitting 
Boston  fully  and  in  such  a  light  as  to  convince  him 
I  was  not  so  wrong  as  he  had  apprehended. 

Sir  William  Keith,  governor  of  the  province,  was 
then  at  Newcastle,  and  Captain  Holmes,  happening 
to  be  in  company  with  him  when  my  letter  came  to 
hand,  spoke  to  him  of  me,  and  show'd  him  the  let 
ter.  The  governor  read  it,  and  seem'd  surpris'd 
when  he  was  told  my  age.  He  said  I  appear'd  a 
young  man  of  promising  parts,  and  therefore  should 
be  encouraged ;  the  printers  at  Philadelphia  were 
wretched  ones  ;  and,  if  I  would  set  up  there,  he 
made  no  doubt  I  should  succeed  ;  for  his  part,  he 
would  procure  me  the  public  business,  and  do  me 
every  other  service  in  his  power.  This  my  brother- 
in-law  afterwards  told  me  in  Boston,  but  I  knew  as 
yet  nothing  of  it;  when,  one  day,  Keimer  and  I 
being  at  work  together  near  the  window,  we  saw 
the  governor  and  another  gentleman  (which  proved 
to  be  Colonel  French,  of  Newcastle),  finely  dress'd, 


nS  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

come   directly  across  the  street  to  our  house,  and 
heard  them  at  the  door. 

Keimer  ran  down  immediately,  thinking  it  a  visit 
to  him  ;  but  the  governor  inquir'd  for  me,  came  up, 
and  with  a  condescension  and  politeness  I  had  been 
quite  unus'd  to,  made  me  many  compliments,  de 
sired  to  be  acquainted  with  me,  blam'd  me  kindly 
for  not  having  made  myself  known  to  him  when  I 
first  came  to  the  place,  and  would  have  me  away 
with  him  to  the  tavern,  where  he  was  going  with 
Colonel  French  to  taste,  as  he  said,  some  excellent 
Madeira.  I  was  not  a  little  surprised,  and  Keimer 
star'd  like  a  pig  poison'd.  I  went,  however,  with 
the  governor  and  Colonel  French  to  a  tavern,  at  the 
corner  of  Third-street,  and  over  the  Madeira  he 
propos'd  my  setting  up  my  business,  laid  before  me 
the  probabilities  of  success,  and  both  he  and  Colo 
nel  French  assur'd  me  I  should  have  their  interest 
and  influence  in  procuring  the  public  business  of 
both  governments.  On  my  doubting  whether  my 
father  would  assist  me  in  it,  Sir  William  said  he 
would  give  me  a  letter  to  him,  in  which  he  would 
state  the  advantages,  and  he  did  not  doubt  of  pre 
vailing  with  him.  So  it  was  concluded  I  should  re 
turn  to  Boston  in  the  first  vessel,  with  the  governor's 
letter  recommending  me  to  my  father.  In  the  mean 
time  the  intention  was  to  be  kept  a  secret,  and  I 
went  on  working  with  Keimer  as  usual,  the  gover 
nor  sending  for  me  now  and  then  to  dine  with  him, 
a  very  great  honor  I  thought  it,  and  conversing 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  119 

with  me  in  the  most  affable,  familiar,  and  friendly 
manner  imaginable. 

About  the  end  of  April,  1724,  a  little  vessel  offer'd 
for  Boston.  I  took  leave  of  Keimer  as  going  to  see 
my  friends.  The  governor  gave  me  an  ample  letter, 
saying  many  flattering  things  of  me  to  my  father, 
and  strongly  recommending  the  project  of  my  set 
ting  up  at  Philadelphia  as  a  thing  that  must  make 
my  fortune.  We  struck  on  a  shoal  in  going  down 
the  bay,  and  sprung  a  leak  ;  we  had  a  blustering 
time  at  sea,  and  were  oblig'd  to  pump  almost  con 
tinually,  at  which  I  took  my  turn.  We  arriv'd  safe, 
however,  at  Boston  in  about  a  fortnight.  I  had 
been  absent  seven  months,  and  my  friends  had 
heard  nothing  of  me ;  for  my  br.  Holmes  was 
not  yet  return'd,  and  had  not  written  about  me. 
My  unexpected  appearance  surpriz'd  the  family ; 
all  were,  however,  very  glad  to  see  me,  and  made 
me  welcome,  except  my  brother.  I  went  to  see 
him  at  his  printing-house.  I  was  better  dress'd 
than  ever  while  in  his  service,  having  a  genteel  new 
suit  from  head  to  foot,  a  watch,  and  my  pockets 
lin'd  with  near  five  pounds  sterling  in  silver.  He 
receiv'd  me  not  very  frankly,  look'd  me  all  over, 
and  turn'd  to  his  work  again. 

The  journeymen  were  inquisitive  where  I  had 
been,  what  sort  of  a  country  it  was,  and  how  I  lik'd 
it.  I  prais'd  it  much,  and  the  happy  life  I  led  in  it, 
expressing  strongly  my  intention  of  returning  to  it ; 
and,  one  of  them  asking  what  kind  of  money  we 


120  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

had  there,  I  produc'd  a  handful  of  silver,  and  spread 
it  before  them,  which  was  a  kind  of  raree-show  they 
had  not  been  us'd  to,  paper  being  the  money  of 
Boston.  Then  I  took  an  opportunity  of  letting 
them  see  my  watch  ;  and,  lastly  (my  brother  still 
grum  and  sullen),  I  gave  them  a  piece  of  eight 
to  drink,  and  took  my  leave.  This  visit  of  mine 
offended  him  extreamly  ;  for,  when  my  mother  some 
time  after  spoke  to  him  of  a  reconciliation,  and  of 
her  wishes  to  see  us  on  good  terms  together,  and  that 
we  might  live  for  the  future  as  brothers,  he  said  I 
had  insulted  him  in  such  a  manner  before  his  people 
that  he  could  never  forget  or  forgive  it.  In  this, 
however,  he  was  mistaken. 

My  father  received  the  governor's  letter  with  some 
apparent  surprise,  but  said  little  of  it  to  me  for  some 
days,  when  Capt.  Holmes  returning  he  show'd  it 
to  him,  ask'd  him  if  he  knew  Keith,  and  what  kind 
of  man  he  was ;  adding  his  opinion  that  he  must  be 
of  small  discretion  to  think  of  setting  a  boy  up  in 
business  who  wanted  yet  three  years  of  being  at 
man's  estate.  Holmes  said  what  he  could  in  favor 
of  the  project,  but  my  father  was  clear  in  the  impro 
priety  of  it,  and  at  last  gave  a  flat  denial  to  it.  Then 
he  wrote  a  civil  letter  to  Sir  William,  thanking  him 
for  the  patronage  he  had  so  kindly  offered  me,  but 
declining  to  assist  me  as  yet  in  setting  up,  I  being, 
in  his  opinion,  too  young  to  be  trusted  with  the  man 
agement  of  a  business  so  important,  and  for  which 
the  preparation  must  be  so  expensive. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  I  21 

My  friend  and  companion  Collins,  who  was  a 
clerk  in  the  post-office,  pleas'd  with  the  account  I 
gave  him  of  my  new  country,  determined  to  go 
thither  also  ;  and,  while  I  waited  for  my  father's  de 
termination,  he  set  out  before  me  by  land  to  Rhode 
Island,  leaving  his  books,  which  were  a  pretty  col 
lection  of  mathematicks  and  natural  philosophy,  to 
come  with  mine  and  me  to  New  York,  where  he 
propos'd  to  wait  for  me. 

My  father,  tho'  he  did  not  approve  Sir  Wil 
liam's  proposition,  was  yet  pleas'd  that  I  had  been 
able  to  obtain  so  advantageous  a  character  from  a 
person  of  such  note  where  I  had  resided,  and  that 
I  had  been  so  industrious  and  careful  as  to  equip 
myself  so  handsomely  in  so  short  a  time  ;  therefore, 
seeing  no  prospect  of  an  accommodation  between 
my  brother  and  me,  he  gave  his  consent  to  my  re 
turning  again  to  Philadelphia,  advis'd  me  to  behave 
respectfully  to  the  people  there,  endeavor  to  obtain 
the  general  esteem,  and  avoid  lampooning  and  libel 
ing,  to  which  he  thought  I  had  too  much  inclination  ; 
telling  me,  that  by  steady  industry  and  a  prudent  par 
simony  I  might  save  enough  by  the  time  I  was  one- 
and-twenty  to  set  me  up  ;  and  that,  if  I  came  near 
the  matter,  he  would  help  me  out  with  the  rest.  This 
was  all  I  could  obtain,  except  some  small  gifts  as 
tokens  of  his  and  my  mother's  love,  when  I  em- 
bark'd  again  for  New  York,  now  with  their  appro 
bation  and  their  blessing. 

The  sloop  putting  in  at  Newport,  Rhode  Island, 
11  F 


122  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

I  visited  my  brother  John,  who  had  been  married 
and  settled  there  some  years.  He  received  me  very 
affectionately,  for  he  always  lov'd  me.  A  friend  of 
his,  one  Vernon,  having  some  money  due  to  him  in 
Pensilvania,  about  thirty-five  pounds  currency, 
desired  I  would  receive  it  for  him,  and  keep  it  till 
I  had  his  directions  what  to  remit  it  in.  Accord 
ingly,  he  gave  me  an  order.  This  afterwards  occa- 
sion'd  me  a  good  deal  of  uneasiness. 

At  Newport  we  took  in  a  number  of  passengers 
for  New  York,  among  which  were  two  young 
women,  companions,  and  a  grave,  sensible,  matron- 
like  Quaker  woman,  with  her  attendants.  I  had 
shown  an  obliging  readiness  to  do  her  some  little 
services,  which  impressed  her  I  suppose  with  a 
degree  of  good  will  toward  me;  therefore,  when 
she  saw  a  daily  growing  familiarity  between  me  and 
the  two  young  women,  which  they  appear'd  to 
encourage,  she  took  me  aside,  and  said,  "Young 
man,  I  am  concern'd  for  thee,  as  thou  has  no  friend 
with  thee,  and  seems  not  to  know  much  of  the 
world,  or  of  the  snares  youth  is  expos'd  to ; 
depend  upon  it,  those  are  very  bad  women  ;  I  can 
see  it  in  all  their  actions ;  and  if  thee  art  not  upon 
thy  guard,  they  will  draw  thee  into  some  danger ; 
they  are  strangers  to  thee,  and  I  advise  thee,  in  a 
friendly  concern  for  thy  welfare,  to  have  no  ac 
quaintance  with  them."  As  I  seem'd  at  first  not  to 
think  so  ill  of  them  as  she  did,  she  mentioned  some 
things  she  had  observ'd  and  heard  that  had  escap'd 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  123 

my  notice,  but  now  convinc'd  me  she  was  right.  I 
thank'd  her  for  her  kind  advice,  and  promis'd  to 
follow  it.  When  we  arriv'd  at  New  York,  they 
told  me  where  they  liv'd,  and  invited  me  to  come 
and  see  them  ;  but  I  avoided  it,  and  it  was  well  I 
did ;  for  the  next  day  the  captain  miss'd  a  silver 
spoon  and  some  other  things,  that  had  been  taken 
taken  out  of  his  cabbin,  and,  knowing  that  these 
were  a  couple  of  strumpets,  he  got  a  warrant  to 
search  their  lodgings,  found  the  stolen  goods,  and 
had  the  thieves  punish'd.  So,  tho'  we  had  es- 
cap'd  a  sunken  rock,  which  we  scrap'd  upon  in 
the  passage,  I  thought  this  escape  of  rather  more 
importance  to  me. 

At  New  York  I  found  my  friend  Collins,  who  had 
arriv'd  there  some  time  before  me.  We  had  been 
intimate  from  children,  and  had  read  the  same  books 
together ;  but  he  had  the  advantage  of  more  time 
for  reading  and  studying,  and  a  wonderful  genius 
for  mathematical  learning,  in  which  he  far  outstript 
me.  While  I  liv'd  in  Boston,  most  of  my  hours  of 
leisure  for  conversation  were  spent  with  him,  and 
he  continu'd  a  sober  as  well  as  an  industrious  lad  ; 
was  much  respected  for  his  learning  by  several  of 
the  clergy  and  other  gentlemen,  and  seemed  to  pro 
mise  making  a  good  figure  in  life.  But,  during  my 
absence,  he  had  acquir'cl  a  habit  of  sotting  with 
brandy  ;  and  I  found  by  his  own  account,  and  what 
I  heard  from  others,  that  he  had  been  drunk  every 
day  since  his  arrival  at  New  York,  and  behav'd 


124  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

very  oddly.  He  had  gam'd,  too,  and  lost  his 
money,  so  that  I  was  oblig'd  to  discharge  his  lodg 
ings,  and  defray  his  expenses  to  and  at  Philadelphia, 
which  prov'd  extremely  inconvenient  to  me. 

The  then  governor  of  New  York,  Burnet  (son 
of  Bishop  Burnet),*  hearing  from  the  captain  that 
a  young  man,  one  of  his  passengers,  had  a  great 
many  books,  desir'd  he  would  bring  me  to  sec  him. 


*  Governor  Burnet  was  appointed  governor  of  the  Colony  of  New 
York  and  New  Jersey  on  the  lyth  of  April,  1720.  He  entered  upon 
the  duties  of  his  office  in  September  following.  He  was  a  man  of 
scholarly  tastes,  fond  of  accumulating  books,  with  a  turn  for  theological 
speculation,  which  he  indulged  in  making  a  commentary  upon  the  three 
periods  contained  in  the  twelfth  chapter  of  Daniel.  The  governor 
married  a  daughter  of  Cornelius  Van  Home,  of  New  York,  who  died 
soon.  He  was  transferred  to  the  governorship  of  Boston  in  July,  1728. 
His  administration  there,  however,  was  not  of  long  duration.  He  was 
taken  ill  from  exposure  on  a  fishing  excursion,  and  died  on  the  7th  of 
September,  1729. 

The  governor's  interest  in  theology  did  not  commend  him  especially 
to  the  authorities  at  home. 

The  Bishop  of  London  complained  that  clergymen  already  provided 
with  his  license  to  preach  in  the  colonies  were  subject  to  a  new  exami 
nation,  conducted  in  a  somewhat  unusual  manner  by  the  governor. 

"  Your  method  (wrote  Richard  West,  the  governor's  brother-in-law, 
Solicitor-General  to  the  Board  of  Trade)  is  to  prescribe  him  a  text,  to 
give  him  a  Bible  for  his  companion,  and  then  lock  him  into  a  room  by 
himself,  and  if  he  does  not  in  some  stated  time  produce  a  sermon  to 
your  satisfaction,  you  peremptorily  refuse  to  grant  him  your  instrument 
(permission  to  preach).  The  consequence  is,  the  man  must  starve. 
*  *  *  I  have  seen  a  great  many  complaints  against  governors,  but 
then  nobody  was  surprised,  because  I  could  always  give  some  pecuniary 
reason  for  what  they  had  done.  You  surely  are  the  first  who  ever 
brought  himself  into  difficulties  by  an  inordinate  care  of  souls ;  and  I 
am  sure  that  makes  no  part  of  your  commission." 

For  the  best  account  of  this  worthy  man,  see  Whitehead's  Contribu' 
tions  to  East  Jersey  History,  pp.  156-168. — B. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  125 

I  waited  upon  him  accordingly,  and  should  have 
taken  Collins  with  me  but  that  he  was  not  sober. 
The  gov'r.  treated  me  with  great  civility,  show'd 
me  his  library,  which  was  a  very  large  one,  and  we 
had  a  good  deal  of  conversation  about  books  and 
authors.  This  was  the  second  governor  who  had 
done  me  the  honor  to  take  notice  of  me ;  which,  to  a 
poor  boy  like  me,  was  very  pleasing. 

We  proceeded  to  Philadelphia.  I  received  on  the 
way  Vernon's  money,  without  which  we  could 
hardly  have  finish'd  our  journey.  Collins  wished 
to  be  employ'd  in  some  counting-house ;  but, 
whether  they  discover'd  his  dramming  by  his 
breath,  or  by  his  behaviour,  tho'  he  had  some 
recommendations,  he  met  with  no  success  in  any 
application,  and  continu'd  lodging  and  boarding  at 
the  same  house  with  me,  and  at  my  expense. 
Knowing  I  had  that  money  of  Vernon's,  he  was 
continually  borrowing  of  me,  still  promising  repay 
ment  as  soon  as  he  should  be  in  business.  At 
length  he  had  got  so  much  of  it  that  I  was  distressed 
to  think  what  I  should  do  in  case  of  being  calFd  on 
to  remit  it. 

His  drinking  continu'd,  about  which  we  some 
times  quarrel'd  ;  for,  when  a  little  intoxicated,  he 
was  very  fractious.  Once,  in  a  boat  on  the  Dela 
ware  with  some  other  young  men,  he  refused  to  row 
in  his  turn.  "  I  will  be  row'd  home,"  says  he. 
"We  will  not  row  you,"  says  I.  "You  must,  or 
stay  all  night  on  the  water,"  says  he,  "just  as  you 
li* 


126  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

please."  The  others  said,  "  Let  us  row;  what 
signifies  it?"  But,  my  mind  being  soured  with  his 
other  conduct,  I  continu'd  to  refuse.  So  he  swore 
he  would  make  me  row,  or  throw  me  overboard  ; 
and  coming  along,  stepping  on  the  thwarts,  toward 
me,  when  he  came  up  and  struck  at  me,  I  clapped 
my  hand  under  his  crutch,  and,  rising,  pitched  him 
head-foremost  into  the  river.  I  knew  he  wras  a  good 
swimmer,  and  so  was  under  little  concern  about 
him ;  but  before  he  could  get  round  to  lay  hold  of 
the  boat,  we  had  with  a  few  strokes  pull'd  her  out 
of  his  reach ;  and  ever  when  he  drew  near  the  boat, 
we  ask'd  if  he  would  row,  striking  a  few  strokes  to 
slide  her  away  from  him.  He  was  ready  to  die 
with  vexation,  and  obstinately  would  not  promise  to 
row.  However,  seeing  him  at  last  beginning  to 
tire,  we  lifted  him  in  and  brought  him  home  drip 
ping  wet  in  the  evening.  We  hardly  exchang'd  a 
civil  word  afterwards,  and  a  West  India  captain, 
who  had  a  commission  to  procure  a  tutor  for  the  sons 
of  a  gentleman  at  Barbadoes,  happening  to  meet 
with  him,  agreed  to  carry  him  thither.  He  left  me 
then,  promising  to  remit  me  the  first  money  he  should 
receive  in  order  to  discharge  the  debt ;  but  I  never 
heard  of  him  after. 

The  breaking  into  this  money  of  Vernon's  was 
one  of  the  first  great  errata  of  my  life  ;  and  this  affair 
show'd  that  my  father  was  not  much  out  in  his  judg 
ment  when  he  suppos'd  me  too  young  to  manage 
business  of  importance.  But  Sir  William,  on  read- 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  127 

ing  his  letter,  said  he  was  too  prudent.  There  was 
great  difference  in  persons  ;  and  discretion  did  not 
always  accompany  years,  nor  was  youth  always 
without  it.  "And  since  he  will  not  set  you  up," 
says  he,  "I  will  do  it  myself.  Give  me  an  inven 
tory  of  the  things  necessary  to  be  had  from  England, 
and  I  will  send  for  them.  You  shall  repay  me  when 
you  are  able  ;  I  am  resolv'd  to  have  a  good  printer 
here,  and  I  am  sure  you  must  succeed."  This  was 
spoken  with  such  an  appearance  of  cordiality,  that 
I  had  not  the  least  doubt  of  his  meaning  what  he 
said.  I  had  hitherto  kept  the  proposition  of  my 
setting  up,  a  secret  in  Philadelphia,  and  I  still  kept 
it.  Had  it  been  known  that  I  depended  on  the 
governor,  probably  some  friend,  that  knew  him 
better,  would  have  advis'd  me  not  to  rely  on  him, 
as  I  afterwards  heard  it  as  his  known  character 
to  be  liberal  of  promises  which  he  never  meant 
to  keep.  Yet,  unsolicited  as  he  was  by  me,  how 
could  I  think  his  generous  offers  insincere?  I  be- 
liev'd  him  one  of  the  best  men  in  the  world. 

I  presented  him  an  inventory  of  a  little  print'g- 
house,  amounting  by  my  computation  to  about  one 
hundred  pounds  sterling.  He  lik'd  it,  but  ask'd 
me  if  my  being  on  the  spot  in  England  to  chuse  the 
types,  and  see  that  every  thing  was  good  of  the 
kind,  might  not  be  of  some  advantage.  "  Then," 
says  he,  "when  there,  you  may  make  acquaintances, 
and  establish  correspondences  in  the  bookselling 
and  stationery  way."  I  agreed  that  this  might  be 


128  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

advantageous.  "Then,"  says  he  "get  yourself 
ready  to  go  with  Annis ;"  which  was  the  annual 
ship,  and  the  only  one  at  that  time  usually  passing 
between*  London  and  Philadelphia.  But  it  would 
be  some  months  before  Annis  sail'd,  so  I  continu'd 
working  with  Keimer,  fretting  about  the  money  Col 
lins  had  got  from  me,  and  in  daily  apprehensions  of 
being  call'd  upon  by  Vernon,  which,  however,  did 
not  happen  for  some  years  after. 

I  believe  I  have  omitted  mentioning  that,  in  my 
first  voyage  from  Boston,  being  becalm'd  off  Block 
Island,  our  people  set  about  catching  cod,  and  hauled 
up  a  great  many.  Hitherto  I  had  stuck  to  my  reso 
lution  of  not  eating  animal  food,  and  on  this  occa 
sion  I  consider'd,  with  my  master  Tryon,  the  taking 
every  fish  as  a  kind  of  unprovoked  murder,  since 
none  of  them  had,  or  ever  could  do  us  any  injury 
that  might  justify  the  slaughter.  All  this  seemed 
very  reasonable.  But  I  had  formerly  been  a  great 
lover  of  fish,  and,  when  this  came  hot  out  of  the 
frying-pan,  it  smelt  admirably  well.  I  balanc'd 
some  time  between  principle  and  inclination,  till  I 
recollected  that,  when  the  fish  were  opened,  I  saw 
smaller  fish  taken  out  of  their  stomachs ;  then 
thought  I,  "  If  you  eat  one  another,  I  don't  see  why 
we  mayn't  eat  you."  So  I  din'd  upon  cod  very 
heartily,  and  continued  to  eat  with  other  people, 
returning  only  now  and  then  occasionally  to  a  vege 
table  diet.  So  convenient  a  thing  it  is  to  be  a  rea 
sonable  creature,  since  it  enables  one  to  find  or 


BENJAMIN  FK  AN  KLIN.  129 

make    a    reason    for  every   thing  one   has   a   mind 
to  do. 

Keimer  and  I  liv'd  on  a  pretty  good  familiar  foot 
ing,  and  agreed  tolerably  well,  for  he  suspected  no 
thing  of  my  setting  up.  He  retained  a  great  deal  of 
his  old  enthusiasms  and  lov'd  argumentation.  We 
therefore  had  many  disputations.  I  used  to  work 
him  so  with  my  Socratic  method,  and  had  trepann'd 
him  so  often  by  questions  apparently  so  distant  from 
any  point  we  had  in  hand,  and  yet  by  degrees  lead 
to  the  point,  and  brought  him  into  difficulties  and 
contradictions,  that  at  last  he  grew  ridiculously  cau 
tious,  and  would  hardly  answer  me  the  most  com 
mon  question,  without  asking  first,  "What  do  you 
intend  to  infer  from  that?"  However,  it  gave  him 
so  high  an  opinion  of  my  abilities  in  the  confuting 
way,  that  he  seriously  proposed  my  being  his  col 
league  in  a  project  he  had  of  setting  up  a  new  sect. 
He  was  to  preach  the  doctrines,  and  I  was  to  con 
found  all  opponents.  When  he  came  to  explain 
with  me  upon  the  doctrines,  I  found  several  conun 
drums  which  I  objected  to,  unless  I  might  have  my 
way  a  little  too,  and  introduce  some  of  mine. 

Keimer  wore  his  beard  at  full  length,  because  some 
where  in  the  Mosaic  law  it  is  said,  "  Thou  shalt  not 
mar  the  corners  of  thy  beard"  He  likewise  kept 
the  Seventh  day,  Sabbath;  and  these  two  points 
were  essentials  with  him.  I  dislik'd  both ;  but 
agreed  to  admit  them  upon  condition  of  his  adopting 
the  doctrine  of  using  no  animal  food.  "  I  doubt," 


130  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

said  he,  "  my  constitution  will  not  bear  that."  I 
assur'd  him  it  would,  and  that  he  would  be  the 
better  for  it.  He  was  usually  a  great  glutton,  and 
I  promised  myself  some  diversion  in  half  starving 
him.  He  agreed  to  try  the  practice,  if  I  would  keep 
him  company.  I  did  so,  and  we  held  it  for  three 
months.  We  had  our  victuals  dress'd,  and  brought 
to  us  regularly  by  a  woman  in  the  neighborhood, 
who  had  from  me  a  list  of  forty  dishes,  to  be  pre- 
par'd  for  us  at  different  times,  in  all  which  there 
was  neither  fish,  flesh,  nor  fowl,  and  the  whim 
suited  me  the  better  at  this  time  from  the  cheapness 
of  it,  not  costing  us  above  eighteen  pence  sterling- 
each  per  week.  I  have  since  kept  several  Lents 
most  strictly,  leaving  the  common  diet  for  that,  and 
that  for  the  common,  abruptly,  without  the  least  in 
convenience,  so  that  I  think  there  is  little  in  the 
advice  of  making  those  changes  by  easy  gradations. 
I  went  on  pleasantly,  but  poor  Keimer  suffered 
grievously,  tired  of  the  project,  long'd  for  the 
flesh-pots  of  Egypt,  and  order'd  a  roast  pig.  He 
invited  me  and  two  women  friends  to  dine  with  him  ; 
but,  it  being  brought  too  soon  upon  table,  he  could 
not  resist  the  temptation,  and  ate  the  whole  before 
we  came. 

I  had  made  some  courtship  during  this  time  to 
Miss  Read.  I  had  a  great  respect  and  affection  for 
her,  and  had  some  reason  to  believe  she  had  the 
same  for  me ;  but,  as  I  was  about  to  take  a  long 
voyage,  and  we  were  both  very  young,  only  a  little 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  131 

above  eighteen,  it  was  thought  most  prudent  by  hei 
mother  to  prevent  our  going  too  far  at  present,  as 
a  marriage,  if  it  was  to  take  place,  would  be  more 
convenient  after  my  return,  when  I  should  be,  as  I 
expected,  set  up  in  my  business.  Perhaps,  too,  she 
thought  my  expectations  not  so  well  founded  as  I 
imagined  them  to  be. 

My  chief  acquaintances  at  this  time  were  Charles 
Osborne,  Joseph  Watson,  and  James  Ralph,  all 
lovers  of  reading.  The  two  first  were  clerks  to  an 
eminent  scrivener  or  conveyancer  in  the  town, 
Charles  Brogden  ;  the  other  was  clerk  to  a  mer 
chant.  Watson  was  a  pious,  sensible  young  man, 
of  great  integrity ;  the  others  rather  more  lax  in 
their  principles  of  religion,  particularly  Ralph,  who, 
as  well  as  Collins,  had  been  unsettled  by  me,  for 
\vhich  they  both  made  me  suffer.  Osborne  was 
sensible,  candid,  frank  ;  sincere  and  affectionate  to 
his  friends ;  but,  in  literary  matters,  too  fond  of 
criticising.  Ralph  was  ingenious,  genteel  in  his 
manners,  and  extremely  eloquent ;  I  think  I  never 
knew  a  prettier  talker.  Both  of  them  great  admirers 
of  poetry,  and  began  to  try  their  hands  in  little 
pieces.  Many  pleasant  walks  we  four  had  together 
on  Sundays  into  the  woods,  near  Schuylkill,  where 
we  read  to  one  another,  and  conferred  on  what  we 
read. 

Ralph  was  inclin'd  to  pursue  the  study  of  poetry, 
not  doubting  but  he  might  become  eminent  in  it, 
and  make  his  fortune  by  it,  alleging  that  the  best 


1^2  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

poets  must,  when  they  first  began  to  write,  make  as 
many  faults  as  he  did.  Osborne  dissuaded  him, 
assur'd  him  he  had  no  genius  for  poetry,  and  ad- 
vis'd  him  to  think  of  nothing  beyond  the  business 
he  was  bred  to  ;  that,  in  the  mercantile  way,  tho' 
he  had  no  stock,  he  might,  by  his  diligence  and 
punctuality,  recommend  himself  to  employment  as 
a  factor,  and  in  time  acquire  wherewith  to  trade  on 
his  own  account.  I  approv'd  the  amusing  one's 
self  with  poetry  now  and  then,  so  far  as  to  improve 
one's  language,  but  no  farther. 

On  this  it  was  propos'd  that  we  should  each  of 
us,  at  our  next  meeting,  produce  a  piece  of  our  own 
composing,  in  order  to  improve  by  our  mutual  ob 
servations,  criticisms,  and  corrections.  As  language 
and  expression  were  what  we  had  in  view,  we 
excluded  all  considerations  of  invention  by  agreeing 
that  the  task  should  be  a  version  of  the  eighteenth 
Psalm,  which  describes  the  descent  of  a  Deity, 
When  the  time  of  our  meeting  drew  nigh,  Ralph 
called  on  me  first,  and  let  me  know  his  piece  was 
ready.  I  told  him  I  had  been  bus)7,  and,  having 
little  inclination,  had  done  nothing.  He  then  show'd 
me  his  piece  for  my  opinion,  and  I  much  approv'd 
it,  as  it  appeared  to  me  to  have  great  merit. 
"  Now,"  says  he,  "Osborne  never  will  allow 
the  least  merit  in  any  thing  of  mine,  but  makes 
1000  criticisms  out  of  mere  envy.  He  is  not  so 
jealous  of  you  ;  I  wish,  therefore,  you  would  take 
this  piece,  and  produce  it  as  yours  ;  I  will  pretend 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  133 

not  to  have  had  time,  and  so  produce  nothing.  We 
shall  then  see  what  he  will  say  to  it."  It  was 
agreed,  and  I  immediately  transcrib'd  it,  that  it 
might  appear  in  my  own  hand. 

We  met ;  Watson's  performance  was  read ;  there 
were  some  beauties  in  it,  but  many  defects.  Os- 
borne's  was  read  ;  it  was  much  better ;  Ralph  did  it 
justice  ;  remarked  some  faults,  but  applauded  the 
beauties.  He  himself  had  nothing  to  produce.  I 
was  backward  ;  seemed  desirous  of  being  excused  ; 
had  not  had  sufficient  time  to  correct,  etc.  ;  but  no 
excuse  could  be  admitted  ;  produce  I  must.  It  was 
read  and  repeated  ;  Watson  and  Osborne  gave  up 
the  contest,  and  join'd  in  applauding  it.  Ralph 
only  made  some  criticisms,  and  propos'd  some 
amendments ;  but  I  defended  my  text.  Osborne 
was  against  Ralph,  and  told  him  he  was  no  better  a 
critic  than  poet,  so  he  dropt  the  argument.  As 
they  two  went  home  together,  Osborne  expressed 
himself  still  more  strongly  in  favor  of  what  he 
thought  my  production  ;  having  restrained  himself 
before,  as  he  said,  lest  I  should  think  it  flattery. 
44  But  who  would  have  imagined,"  said  he,  "  that 
Franklin  had  been  capable  of  such  a  performance ; 
such  painting,  such  force,  such  fire  !  He  has  even 
improv'd  the  original.  In  his  common  conversation 
he  seems  to  have  no  choice  of  words  ;  he  hesitates 
and  blunders  ;  and  yet,  good  God  !  how  he  writes  !" 
When  we  next  met,  Ralph  discovered  the  trick  we 
had  plaid  him,  and  Osborne  was  a  little  laught  at. 
12 


134  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

This  transaction  fixed  Ralph  in  his  resolution  of 
becoming  a  poet.  I  did  all  I  could  to  dissuade  him 
from  it,  but  he  continued  scribbling  verses  till  Pope 
cured  him.*  He  became,  however,  a  pretty  good 


*  In  one  of  the  later  editions  of  the  Dunciad  occur  the  following 
lines  : 

"  Silence,  ye  wolves  !  while  Ralph  to  Cynthia  howls, 
And  makes  Night  hideous — answer  him,  ye  owls." 

Book  iii.  line  165. 

To  this  the  poet  adds  the  following  note  : 

"James  Ralph,  a  name  inserted  after  the  first  editions,  not  known  till 
he  writ  a  swearing-piece  called  Sawney,  very  abusive  of  Dr.  Swift, 
Mr.  Gay  and  myself.  These  lines  allude  to  a  thing  of  his  entitled  Night, 
a  poem.  This  low  writer  attended  his  own  works  with  panegyrics  in 
the  journals,  and  once  in  particular  praised  himself  highly  above  Mr. 
Addison,  in  wretched  remarks  upon  that  author's  account  of  English 
poets,  printed  in  a  London  journal,  September,  1728.  He  was  wholly 
illiterate  and  knew  no  language,  not  even  French.  Being  advised  to 
read  the  rules  of  dramatic  poetry  before  he  began  a  play,  he  smiled  and 
replied,  '  Shakespeare  writ  without  rules.'  He  ended  at  last  in  the 
common  sink  of  all  such  writers,  a  political  newspaper,  to  which  he  was 
recommended  by  his  friend  Arnal,  and  received  a  small  pittance  for  pay ; 
and  being  detected  in  writing  on  both  sides  on  one  and  the  same  day, 
he  publicly  justified  the  morality  of  his  conduct." 

In  the  first  book  of  the  Dunciad,  line  215,  there  is  another  allusion  to 
Ralph  : 

"And  see  !  the  very  Gazetteers  give  o'er, 
Ev'n  Ralph  repents,  and  Henley  writes  no  more." 

To  this  the  poet  appends  the  following  note  : 

"  Gazetteers. — A  band  of  ministerial  writers  hired  at  the  price  men 
tioned  in  the  note  on  book  u,  vcr.  316,  who,  on  the  very  day  their 
patron  quitted  his  post,  laid  down  their  paper  and  declared  they  would 
never  more  meddle  in  politics." 

In  the  note  here  referred  to  Pope  says  : 

"  The  Daily  Gazetteer  was  a  title  given  very  properly  to  certain  papers, 
each  of  which  lasted  but  a  day.  Into  this  as  a  common  sink  was  re 
ceived  all  the  trash  which  had  been  before  dispersed  in  several  journals 
and  circulated  at  the  public  expense  of  the  nation.  The  authors  were 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  135 

prose  writer.  More  of  him  hereafter.  But,  as  I 
may  not  have  occasion  again  to  mention  the  other 
two,  I  shall  just  remark  here,  that  Watson  died  in 
my  arms  a  few  years  after,  much  lamented,  being 
the  best  of  our  set.  Osborne  went  to  the  West 
Indies,  where  he  became  an  eminent  lawyer  and 
made  money,  but  died  young.  He  and  I  had  made 
a  serious  agreement,  that  the  one  who  happen'd 
first  to  die  should,  if  possible,  make  a  friendly  visit 
to  the  other,  and  acquaint  him  how  he  found  things 
in  that  separate  state.  But  he  never  fulfill'd  his 
promise. 


the  same  obscure  men  ;  though  sometimes  relieved  by  occasional  essays 
from  statesmen,  courtiers,  bishops,  deans  and  doctors.  The  meaner 
sort  were  rewarded  with  money ;  others  with  places  or  benefices,  from 
a  hundred  to  a  thousand  a  year.  It  appears  from  the  Report  of  the 
Secret  Committee,  for  inquiring  into  the  conduct  of  R.  Earl  of  O.,  'that 
no  less  than  fifty  thousand  seventy-seven  pounds  eighteen  shillings  were 
paid  to  authors  and  printers  of  newspapers,  such  as  Free  Britons,  Daily 
Courants,  Corn-Cutters,  Journals,  Gazetteers  and  other  political  papers, 
between  February  10,  1731,  and  February  10,  1741,'  which  shows  the 
benevolence  of  one  minister  to  have  expended  for  the  current  dullness 
of  ten  years  in  Britain  double  the  sum  which  gained  Louis  XIV.  so 
much  honor  in  annual  pensions  to  learned  men  all  over  Europe.  In 
which  and  in  a  much  longer  time  not  a  pension  at  court  nor  preferment 
in  the  Church  or  universities  of  any  consideration  was  bestowed  on  any 
man  distinguished  for  his  learning,  separately  from  party-merit  or  pam 
phlet-writing." 

"  It  is  worth  a  reflection,  that  of  all  the  panegyrics  bestowed  by  these 
writers  on  this  great  minister,  not  one  is  at  this  day  extant  or  remem 
bered  ;  nor  even  so  much  credit  done  to  his  personal  character  by  all 
they  have  written  as  by  one  short  occasional  compliment  of  our  author : 

"  Seen  him  I  have  ;  but  in  his  happier  hour 
Of  social  pleasure,  ill  exchanged  for  power ; 
Seen  him  uncumbered  by  the  venal  tribe, 
Smile  without  art  and  win  without  a  bribe." — B. 


136  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

The  governor,  seeming  to  like  my  company,  had 
me  frequently  to  his  house,  and  his  setting  me  up 
was  always  mention'd  as  a  fixed  thing.  I  was  to 
take  with  me  letters  recommendatory  to  a  number 
of  his  friends,  besides  the  letter  of  credit  to  furnish 
me  with  the  necessary  money  for  purchasing  the 
press  and  types,  paper,  etc.  For  these  letters  I  was 
appointed  to  call  at  different  times,  when  they  were 
to  be  ready  ;  but  a  future  time  was  still  named. 
Thus  he  went  on  till  the  ship,  whose  departure  too 
had  been  several  times  postponed,  was  on  the  point 
of  sailing.  Then,  when  I  call'd  to  take  my  leave 
and  receive  the  letters,  his  secretary,  Dr.  Bard, 
came  out  to  me  and  said  the  governor  was  extremely 
busy  in  writing,  but  would  be  down  at  Newcastle 
before  the  ship,  and  there  the  letters  would  be  de 
livered  to  me. 

Ralph,  though  married,  and  having  one  child, 
had  determined  to  accompany  me  in  this  voyage. 
It  was  thought  he  intended  to  establish  a  corre 
spondence,  and  obtain  goods  to  sell  on  commission  ; 
but  I  found  afterwards,  that,  thro'  some  discon 
tent  with  his  wife's  relations,  he  purposed  to  leave 
her  on  their  hands,  and  never  return  again.  Hav 
ing  taken  leave  of  my  friends,  and  interchang'd 
some  promises  with  Miss  Read,  I  left  Philadelphia 
in  the  ship,  which  anchor'd  at  Newcastle.  The 
governor  was  there  ;  but  when  I  went  to  his  lodging, 
the  secretary  came  to  me  from  him  with  the  civillest 
message  in  the  world,  that  he  could  not  then  see 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  137 

me,  being  engaged  in  business  of  the  utmost  im 
portance,  but  should  send  the  letters  to  me  on  board, 
wish'd  me  heartily  a  good  voyage  and  a  speedy 
return,  etc.  I  returned  on  board  a  little  puzzled, 
but  still  not  doubting. 

Mr.  Andrew  Hamilton,  a  famous  lawyer  of  Phila 
delphia,  had  taken  passage  in  the  same  ship  for 
himself  and  son,  and  with  Mr.  Denham,  a  Quaker 
merchant,  and  Messrs.  Onion  and  Russel,  master's 
of  an  iron  work  in  Maryland,  had  engag'd  the 
great  cabin  ;  so  that  Ralph  and  I  were  forced  to 
take  up  with  a  berth  in  the  steerage,  and  none  on 
board  knowing  us,  were  considered  as  ordinary  per 
sons.  But  Mr.  Hamilton  and  his  son  (it  was  James, 
since  governor)  return'd  from  Newcastle  to  Phila 
delphia,  the  father  being  recalPd  by  a  great  fee  to 
plead  for  a  seized  ship  ;  and,  just  before  we  sail'd, 
Colonel  French  coming  on  board,  and  showing  me 
great  respect,  I  was  more  taken  notice  of,  and,  with 
my  friend  Ralph,  invited  by  the  other  gentlemen  to 
come  into  the  cabin,  there  being  now  room.  Ac 
cordingly,  we  remov'd  thither. 

Understanding  that  Colonel  French  had  brought 
on  board  the  governor's  despatches,  I  ask'd  the 
captain  for  those  letters  that  were  to  be  under  my 
care.  He  said  all  were  put  into  the  bag  together 
and  he  could  not  then  come  at  them  ;  but,  before 
we  landed  in  England,  I  should  have  an  opportunity 
of  picking  them  out ;  so  I  was  satisfied  for  the  pres 
ent,  and  we  proceeded  on  our  voyage.  We  had  a 
12* 


138  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

sociable  company  in  the  cabin,  and  lived  uncom 
monly  well,  having  the  addition  of  all  Mr.  Hamil 
ton's  stores,  who  had  laid  in  plentifully.  In  this 
passage  Mr.  Denham  contracted  a  friendship  for  me 
that  continued  during  his  life.'  The  voyage  was 
otherwise  not  a  pleasant  one,  as  we  had  a  great  deal 
of  bad  weather. 

When  we  came  into  the  Channel,  the  captain  kept 
his  word  with  me,  and  gave  me  an  opportunity  of 
examining  the  bag  for  the  governor's  letters.  I 
found  none*  upon  which  my  name  was  put  as  under 
my  care.  I  picked  out  six  or  seven,  that,  by  the 
handwriting,  I  thought  might  be  the  promised  let 
ters,  especially  as  one  of  them  was  directed  to 
Basket,  the  king's  printer,  and  another  to  some  sta 
tioner.  We  arriv'd  in  London  the  24th  of  Decem 
ber,  1724-  I  waited  upon  the  stationer,  who  came 
first  in  my  way,  delivering  the  letter  as  from  Gover 
nor  Keith.  "  I  don't  know  such  a  person,"  says  he  ; 
but,  opening  the  letter,  "  O  !  this  is  from  Riddles- 
den.  I  have  lately  found  him  to  be  a  compleat 
rascal,  and  I  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  him,  nor 
receive  any  letters  from  him."  So,  putting  the  letter 
into  my  hand,  he  turn'd  on  his  heel  and  left  me  to 
serve  some  customer.  I  was  surprized  to  find  these 
were  not  the  governor's  letters  ;  and,  after  recollect 
ing  and  comparing  circumstances,  I  began  to  doubt 
his  sincerity.  I  found  my  friend  Denham,  and 


Evidently  intended  for  "  some." — B. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  139 

opened  the  whole  affair  to  him.  He  let  me  into 
Keith's  character ;  told  me  there  was  not  the  least 
probability  that  he  had  written  any  letters  for  me  ; 
that  no  one,  who  knew  him,  had  the  smallest  de 
pendence  on  him  ;  and  he  laught  at  the  notion  of  the 
governor's  giving  me  a  letter  of  credit,  having,  as 
he  said,  no  credit  to  give.  On  my  expressing  some 
concern  about  what  I  should  do,  he  advised  me  to 
endeavor  getting  some  employment  in  the  way  of 
my  business.  "Among  the  printers  here,"  said  he, 
"  you  will  improve  yourself,  and  when  you  return 
to  America,  you  will  set  up  to  greater  advantage." 

We  both  of  us  happen'd  to  know,  as  well  as  the 
stationer,  that  Riddlesden,  the  attorney,  was  a  very 
knave.  He  had  half  ruin'd  Miss  Read's  father  by 
persuading  him  to  be  bound  for  him.  By  this  letter 
it  appear'd  there  was  a  secret  scheme  on  foot  to  the 
prejudice  of  Hamilton  (suppos'd  to  be  then  coming 
over  with  us)  ;  and  that  Keith  was  concerned  in  it 
with  Riddlesden.  Denham,  who  was  a  friend  of 
Hamilton's,  thought  he  ought  to  be  acquainted  with 
it ;  so,  when  he  arriv'd  in  England,  which  was  soon 
after,  partly  from  resentment  and  ill-will  to  Keith 
and  Riddlesden,  and  partly  from  good-will  to  him,  I 
waited  on  him,  and  gave  him  the  letter.  He  thank'd 
me  cordially,  the  information  being  of  importance 
to  him  ;  and  from  that  time  he  became  my  friend, 
greatly  to  my  advantage  afterwards  on  many  occa 
sions. 

But  \vhat  shall  we  think  of  a  governor's  playing 


140  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

such  pitiful  tricks,  and  imposing  so  grossly  on  a  poor 
ignorant  boy  !  It  was  a  habit  he  had  acquired.  He 
\vish'd  to  pleased  everybody  ;  and,  having  little  to 
give,  he  gave  expectations.  He  was  otherwise  an 
ingenious,  sensible  man,  a  pretty  good  writer,  and 
a  good  governor  for  the  people,  tho'  not  for  his 
constituents,  the  proprietaries,  whose  instructions  he 
sometimes  disregarded.  Several  of  our  best  laws 
were  of  his  planning  and  passed  during  his  admin 
istration. 

Ralph  and  I  were  inseparable  companions.  We 
took  lodgings  together  in  Little  Britain  at  three 
shillings  and  sixpence  a  week — as  much  as  we  could 
then  afford.  He  found  some  relations,  but  they 
were  poor,  and  unable  to  assist  him.  He  now  let 
me  know  his  intentions  of  remaining  in  London, 
and  that  he  never  meant  to  return  to  Philadelphia. 
He  had  brought  no  money  with  him,  the  whole  he 
could  muster  having  been  expended  in  paying  his 
passage.  I  had  fifteen  pistoles ;  so  he  borrowed 
occasionally  of  me  to  subsist,  while  he  was  looking 
out  for  business.  He  first  endeavored  to  get  into 
the  playhouse,  believing  himself  qualify'd  for  an 
actor;  but  Wilkes,*  to  whom  he  apply'd,  advis'd 
him  candidly  not  to  think  of  that  employment,  as  it 
was  impossible  he  should  succeed  in  it.  Then  he 
propos'd  to  Roberts,  a  publisher  in  Paternoster  Row, 
to  write  for  him  a  weekly  paper  like  the  Spectator, 


*  A  comedian. — B. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  141 

on  certain  conditions,  which  Roberts  did  not  ap 
prove.  Then  he  endeavored  to  get  employment  as 
a  hackney  writer,  to  copy  for  the  stationers  and 
lawyers  about  the  Temple,  but  could  find  no 
vacancy. 

I  immediately  got  into  work  at  Palmer's,  then  a 
famous  printing-house  in  Bartholomew  Close,  and 
here  I  continu'd  near  a  year.  I  was  pretty  diligent, 
but  spent  with  Ralph  a  good  deal  of  my  earnings  in 
going  to  plays  and  other  places  of  amusement.  We 
had  together  consumed  all  my  pistoles,  and  now  just 
rubbed  on  from  hand  to  mouth.  He  seem'd  quite 
to  forget  his  wife  and  child,  and  I,  by  degrees,  my 
engagements  with  Miss  Read,  to  whom  I  never 
wrote  more  than  one  letter,  and  that  was  to  let  her 
know  I  was  not  likely  soon  to  return.  This  was 
another  of  the  great  errata  of  my  life,  which  I  should 
wish  to  correct  if  I  were  to  live  it  over  again.  In 
fact,  by  our  expenses,  I  was  constantly  kept  unable 
to  pay  my  passage. 

At  Palmer's  I  was  employed  in  composing  for 
the  second  edition  of  Wollaston's  "Religion  of 
Nature."  Some  of  his  reasonings  not  appearing  to 
me  well  founded,  I  wrote  a  little  metaphysical  piece 
in  which  I  made  remarks  on  them.  It  was  entitled 
"  A  Dissertation  on  Liberty  and  Necessity,  Pleasure 
and  Pain."  I  inscribed  it  to  my  friend  Ralph  ;  I 
printed  a  small  number.  It  occasion'd  my  being 
more  consider'd  by  Mr.  Palmer  as  a  young  man 
of  some  ingenuity,  tho'  he  seriously  expostulated 


142  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

with  me  upon  the  principles  of  my  pamphlet,  which 
to  him  appear'd  abominable.  My  printing  this 
pamphlet  was  another  erratum.*  While  I  lodg'd 
in  Little  Britain,  I  made  an  acquaintance  with  one 
Wilcox,  a  bookseller,  whose  shop  was  at  the  next 
door.  He  had  an  immense  collection  of  second 
hand  books.  Circulating  libraries  were  not  then  in 
use ;  but  we  agreed  that,  on  certain  reasonable 
terms,  which  I  have  now  forgotten,  I  might  take, 
read,  and  return  any  of  his  books.  This  I  esteem'd 
a  great  advantage,  and  I  made  as  much  use  of  it  as 
I  could. 

My  pamphlet  by  some  means  falling  into  the 
hands  of  one  Lyons,  a  surgeon,  author  of  a  book 
entitled  "  The  Infallibility  of  Human  Judgment,"  it 
occasioned  an  acquaintance  between  us.  He  took 
great  notice  of  me,  called  on  me  often  to  converse 
on  those  subjects,  carried  me  to  the  Horns,  a  pale 

alehouse  in Lane,  Cheapside,  and  introduced 

me  to  Dr.  Mandeville,  author  of  the  "  Fable  of  the 
Bees,"  who  had  a  club  there,  of  which  he  was  the 
soul,  being  a  most  facetious,  entertaining  companion. 
Lyons,  too,  introduced  me  to  Dr.  Pemberton,  at 
Batson's  Coffee-house,  who  promis'd  to  give  me  an 
opportunity,  some  time  or  other,  of  seeing  Sir  Isaac 
Newton,  of  which  I  was  extreamely  desirous ;  but 
this  never  happened. 

I  had  brought  over  a  few  curiosities,  among  which 

*  No  copy  of  this  tract  is  now  known  to  be  in  existence.     See  Frank 
lin  to  Vaughan,  Sparks'  Works  of  Franklin,  vol.  viii.  p.  405. — B. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  143 

the  principal  was  a  purse  made  of  the  asbestos, 
which  purities  by  fire.  Sir  Hans  Sloane  heard  of 
it,  came  to  see  me,  and  invited  me  to  his  house  in 
Bloomsbury  Square,  where  he  show'd  me  all  his 
curiosities,  and  persuaded  me  to  let  him  add  that  to 
the  number,  for  which  he  paid  me  handsomely.* 

In  our  house  there  lodg'd  a  young  woman,  a  mil 
liner,  who,  I  think,  had  a  shop  in  the  Cloisters. 
She  had  been  genteelly  bred,  was  sensible  and 
lively,  and  of  most  pleasing  conversation.  Ralph 
read  plays  to  her  in  the  evenings,  they  grew  inti 
mate,  she  took  another  lodging,  and  he  followed 
her.  They  liv'd  together  some  time  ;  but,  he  being 
still  out  of  business,  and  her  income  not  sufficient 
to  maintain  them  with  her  child,  he  took  a  resolu 
tion  of  going  from  London,  to  try  for  a  country 
school,  which  he  thought  himself  well  qualified  to 
undertake,  as  he  wrote  an  excellent  hand,  and  was 


*  The  following  letter  to  Sir  Hans  Sloane  is  published  in  the  Sparks' 
Collection  of  Correspondence,  Works  of  Franklin,  vol.  vii.  p.  i.  Frank 
lin  was  then  19  years  of  age  : 

"LONDON,  2  June,  1725. 

"  SIR  :  Having  latety  been  in  the  northern  parts  of  America,  I  have 
brought  from  thence  a  purse  made  of  the  Asbetos,  a  piece  of  the  stone, 
and  a  piece  of  the  wood,  the  pithy  part  of  which  is  of  the  same  nature, 
and  called  by  the  inhabitants  Salamander  Cotton.  As  you  are  noted  to 
be  a  lover  of  curiosities,  I  have  informed  you  of  these  ;  and  if  you  have 
any  inclination  to  purchase  or  see  them,  let  me  know  your  pleasure  by 
a  line  for  me  at  the  Golden  Fan,  Little  Britain,  and  I  will  wait  upon 
you  with  them.  I  am,  sir,  your  most  humble  servant, 

"B.  FRANKLIN. 

"  P.  S.  I  expect  to  be  out  of  town  in  two  or  three  clays,  and  therefore 
beg  an  immediate  answer." — 15. 


144  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

a  master  of  arithmetic  and  accounts.  This,  how 
ever,  he  deemed  a  business  below  him,  and  confi 
dent  of  future  better  fortune,  when  he  should  be 
unwilling  to  have  it  known  that  he  once  was  so 
meanly  employed,  he  changed  his  name,  and  did 
me  the  honor  to  assume  mine  ;  for  I  soon  after  had 
a  letter  from  him,  acquainting  me  that  he  was  set 
tled  in  a  small  village  (in  Berkshire,  I  think  it  was, 
where  he  taught  reading  and  writing  to  ten  or  a 
dozen  boys,  at  sixpence  each  per  week),  recom 
mending  Mrs.  T to  my  care,  and  desiring  me 

to  write  to  him,  directing  for  Mr.  Franklin,  school 
master,  at  such  a  place. 

He  continued  to  write  frequently,  sending  me 
large  specimens  of  an  epic  poem  which  he  was  then 
composing,  and  desiring  my  remarks  and  correc 
tions.  These  I  gave  him  from  time  to  time,  but 
endeavor'd  rather  to  discourage  his  proceeding. 
One  of  Young's  Satires  was  then  just  published.  I 
copy'd  and  sent  him  a  great  part  of  it,  which  set  in 
a  strong  light  the  folly  of  pursuing  the  Muses  with 
any  hope  of  advancement  by  them.*  All  was  in 


"  Th'  abandoned  manners  of  our  writing  train 
May  tempt  mankind  to  think  religiun  vain  ; 
But  in  their  fate,  their  habit,  and  their  mien, 
That  gods  there  arc  is  evidently  seen  : 
Heav'n  stands  absolv'd  by  vengeance  on  their  pen, 
And  marks  the  murderers  of  fame  from  men  : 
Through  meagre  jaws  they  draw  their  venal  breath 
As  ghastly  as  their  brothers  in  Macbeth  : 
Their  feet  thro'  faithless  leather  meets  the  dirt, 
And  oftener  changed  their  principles  than  shirt : 
The  transient  vestments  of  these  frugal  men 
Hasten  to  paper  for  our  mirth  again  : 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  145 

vain ;    sheets  of  the  poem    continued  to   come  by 

every  post.     In  the  mean  time,  Mrs.  T ,  having 

on  his  account  lost  her  friends  and  business,  was 
often  in  distresses,  and  us'd  to  send  for  me,  and 
borrow  what  I  could  spare  to  help  her  out  of  them. 
I  grew  fond  of  her  company,  and,  being  at  that  time 
under  no  religious  restraint,  and  presuming  upon 

Too  soon  (O  merry,  melancholy  fate  !) 
They  beg  in  rhyme,  and  warble  thro'  a  grate ; 
The  man  lampooned,  forgets  it  at  the  sight  ; 
The  friend  thro'  pity  gives,  the  foe  through  spite  ; 
And  though  full  conscious  of  his  injur'd  purse, 
Lintot  relents,  nor  Cecil  can  wish  them  worse. 

"An  author,  'tis  a  venerable  name  ! 
How  few  deserve  it  and  what  numbers  claim. 
Unbless'd  with  sense,  above  the  peers  refin'd, 
Who  shall  stand  up,  dictators  to  mankind  ? 
Nay,  who  dare  shine,  if  not  in  virtue's  cause? 
That  sole  proprietor  of  just  applause. 

"Ye  restless  men  !  who  pant  for  letter'd  praise, 
With  whom  would  you  consult  to  gain  the  bays? 
With  those  great  authors  whose  fam'd  works  you  read? 
'Tis  well ;  go,  then,  consult  the  laurel'd  shade, 
What  answer  will  the  laurel'd  shade  return? 
Hear  it  and  tremble,  he  commands  you  burn 
The  noblest  works,  his  envy'd  genius  writ, 
That  boasts  of  naught  more  excellent  than  wit. 
If  this  be  true,  as  'tis  a  truth  most  dread, 
Woe  to  the  page  which  has  not  that  to  plead  ! 
Fontaine  and  Chaucer,  dying,  wish'd  unwrote 
The  sprightliest  efforts  of  their  wanton  thought  : 
Sidney  and  Waller,  brightest  sons  of  fame, 
Condemn'd  the  charm  of  ages  to  the  flame. 

"Thus  ends  your  courted  fame — does  lucre  then, 
The  sacred  thirst  of  gold,  betray  your  pen  ? 
In  prose  'tis  blamable,  in  verse  'tis  worse, 
Provokes  the  Muse,  extorts  Apollo's  curse  ; 
His  sacred  influence  never  should  be  sold ; 
'Tis  arrant  simony  to  sing  for  gold  ; 
'Tis  immortality  should  fire  your  mind, 
Scorn  a  less  paymaster  than  all  mankind." 

YOUNG,  vol.  iii.  Epist.  ii.,  p.  70. — B. 
13  G 


146  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

my  importance  to  her,  I  attempted  familiarities 
(another  erratum)  which  she  repuls'd  with  a  proper 
resentment,  and  acquainted  him  with  my  behaviour. 
This  made  a  breach  between  us ;  and,  when  he 
returned  again  to  London,  he  let  me  know  he 
thought  I  had  cancelled  all  the  obligations  he  had 
been  under  to  me.  So  I  found  I  was  never  to  ex 
pect  his  repaying  me  what  I  lent  to  him,  or  advanc'd 
for  him.  This,  however,  was  not  then  of  much 
consequence,  as  he  was  totally  unable  ;  and  in  the 
loss  of  his  friendship  I  found  myself  relieved  from  a 
burthen.  I  now  began  to  think  of  getting  a  little 
money  beforehand,  and,  expecting  better  work,  I 
left  Palmer's  to  work  at  Watts's,  near  Lincoln's  Inn 
Fields,  a  still  greater  printing-house.  Here  I  con 
tinued  all  the  rest  of  my  stay  in  London 

At  my  first  admission  into  this  printing-house  I 
took  to  working  at  press,  imagining  I  felt  a  want  of 
the  bodily  exercise  I  had  been  us'd  to  in  America, 
where  presswork  is  mix'd  with  composing.  I  drank 
only  water ;  the  other  workmen,  near  fifty  in  num 
ber,  were  great  guzzlers  of  beer.  On  occasion,  I 
carried  up  and  down  stairs  a  large  form  of  types  in 
each  hand,  when  others  carried  but  one  in  both 
hands.  They  wondered  to  see,  from  this  and  seve 
ral  instances,  that  the  Water- American,  as  they 
called  me,  was  stronger  than  themselves,  who 
drank  strong  beer  !  We  had  an  alehouse  boy  who 
attended  always  in  the  house  to  supply  the  work 
men.  My  companion  at  the  press  drank  every  day 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  147 

a  pint  before  breakfast,  a  pint  at  breakfast  with  his 
bread  and  cheese,  a  pint  between  breakfast  and 
dinner,  a  pint  at  dinner,  a  pint  in  the  afternoon 
about  six  o'clock,  and  another  when  he  had  done 
his  day's  work.  I  thought  it  a  detestable  custom  ; 
but  it  was  necessary,  he  suppos'd,  to  drink  strong 
beer,  that  he  might  be  strong  to  labor.  I  endeavored 
to  convince  him  that  the  bodily  strength  afforded  by 
beer  could  only  be  in  proportion  to  the  grain  or  flour 
of  the  barley  dissolved  in  the  water  of  which  it  was 
made  ;  that  there  was  more  flour  in  a  pennyworth 
of  bread  ;  and  therefore,  if  he  would  eat  that  with  a 
pint  of  water,  it  would  give  him  more  strength  than 
a  quart  of  beer.  He  drank  on,  however,  and  had 
four  or  five  shillings  to  pay  out  of  his  wages  every 
Saturday  night  for  that  muddling  liquor  ;  an  expense 
I  was  free  from.  And  thus  these  poor  devils  keep 
themselves  always  under. 

Watts,  after  some  weeks,  desiring  to  have  me  in 
the  composing-room,  I  left  the  pressmen  ;  a  new 
bien  venu  or  sum  for  drink,  being  five  shillings,  was 
demanded  of  me  by  the  compositors.  I  thought  it 
an  imposition,  as  I  had  paid  below ;  the  master 
thought  so  too,  and  forbad  my  paying  it.  I  stood 
out  two  or  three  weeks,  was  accordingly  considered 
as  an  excommunicate,  and  had  so  many  little  pieces 
of  private  mischief  done  me,  by  mixing  my  sorts, 
transposing  my  pages,  breaking  my  matter,  etc., 
etc.,  if  I  were  ever  so  little  out  of  the  room,  and  all 
ascribed  to  the  chappel  ghost,  which  they  said  ever 


148  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

haunted  those  not  regularly  admitted,  that,  notwith 
standing  the  master's  protection,  I  found  myself 
oblig'd  to  comply  and  pay  the  money,  convinc'd 
of  the  folly  of  being  on  ill  terms  with  those  one  is 
to  live  with  continually. 

I  was  now  on  a  fair  footing  with  them,  and  soon 
acquir'd  considerable  influence.  I  proposed  some 
reasonable  alterations  in  their  chappel*  laws,  and 
carried  them  against  all  opposition.  From  my  ex 
ample,  a  great  part  of  them  left  their  muddling 
breakfast  of  beer,  and  bread,  and  cheese,  finding  they 
could  with  me  be  suppyl'd  from  a  neighboring  house 
with  a  large  porringer  of  hot  water-gruel,  sprinkled 
with  pepper,  crumb'd  with  bread,  and  a  bit  of  but 
ter  in  it,  for  the  price  of  a  pint  of  beer,  viz.,  three 
half-pence.  This  was  a  more  comfortable  as  well 
as  cheaper  breakfast,  and  kept  their  heads  clearer. 
Those  who  continued  sotting  with  beer  all  day,  were 
often,  by  not  paying,  out  of  credit  at  the  alehouse, 
and  us'd  to  make  interest  with  me  to  get  beer ;  their 
light,  as  they  phrased  it,  being  out.  I  watch'd  the 
pay-table  on  Saturday  night,  and  collected  what  I 


*  "  A  printing-house  is  always  called  a  chapel  by  the  workmen,  the 
origin  of  which  appears  to  have  been,  that  printing  was  first  carried  on 
in  England  in  an  antient  chapel  converted  into  a  printing-house,  and  the 
title  has  been  preserved  by  tradition.  The  bien  venu  among  the  printers 
answers  to  the  terms  entrance  and  footing  among  mechanics  ;  thus  a 
journeyman,  on  entering  a  printing-house,  was  accustomed  to  pay  one 
or  more  gallons  of  beer  for  the  good  of  the  chapel :  this  custom  was 
falling  into  disuse  thirty  years  ago  ;  it  is  very  properly  rejected  entirely 
in  the  United  States." — W.  T.  F. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  149 

stood  engag'd  for  them,  having  to  pay  sometimes 
near  thirty  shillings  a  week  on  their  accounts.  This, 
and  my  being  esteem'd  a  pretty  good  riggite,  that 
is,  a  jocular  verbal  satirist,  supported  my  conse 
quence  in  the  society.  My  constant  attendance  (I 
never  making  a  St.  Monday)  recommended  me  to 
the  master ;  and  my  uncommon  quickness  at  com 
posing  occasioned  my  being  put  upon  all  work  of 
dispatch,  which  was  generally  better  paid.  So  I 
went  on  now  very  agreeably. 

My  lodging  in  Little  Britain  being  too  remote,  I 
found  another  in  Duke-street,  opposite  to  the  Rom 
ish  Chapel.  It  was  two  pair  of  stairs  backwards, 
at  an  Italian  warehouse.  A  widow  lady  kept  the 
house ;  she  had  a  daughter,  and  a  maid  servant,  and 
a  journeyman  who  attended  the  warehouse,  but 
lodg'd  abroad.  After  sending  to  inquire  my  char 
acter  at  the  house  where  I  last  lodg'd,  she  agreed 
to  take  me  in  at  the  same  rate,  33.  6d.  per  week  ; 
cheaper,  as  she  said,  from  the  protection  she  ex 
pected  in  having  a  man  lodge  in  the  house.  She 
was  a  widow,  an  elderly  woman  ;  had  been  bred  a 
Protestant,  being  a  clergyman's  daughter,  but  was 
converted  to  the  Catholic  religion  by  her  husband, 
whose  memory  she  much  revered  ;  had  lived  much 
among  people  of  distinction,  and  knew  a  thousand 
anecdotes  of  them  as  far  back  as  the  times  of  Charles 
the  Second.  She  was  lame  in  her  knees  with  the 
gout,  and,  therefore,  seldom  stirred  out  of  her  room, 
so  sometimes  wanted  company ;  and  hers  was  so 

13  * 


150  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

highly  amusing  to  me,  that  I  was  sure  to  spend  an 
evening  with  her  whenever  she  desired  it.  Our 
supper  was  only  half  an  anchovy  each,  on  a  very 
little  strip  of  bread  and  butter,  and  half  a  pint  of  ale 
between  us ;  but  the  entertainment  was  in  her  con 
versation.  My  always  keeping  good  hours,  and 
giving  little  trouble  in  the  family,  made  her  unwill 
ing  to  part  with  me ;  so  that,  when  I  talk'd  of  a 
lodging  I  had  heard  of,  nearer  my  business,  for  two 
shillings  a  week,  which,  intent  as  I  now  was  on 
saving  money,  made  some  difference,  she  bid  me 
not  think  of  it,  for  she  would  abate  me  two  shil 
lings  a  week  for  the  future ;  so  I  remained  with  her 
at  one  shilling  and  sixpence  as  long  as  I  staid  in 
London. 

In  a  garret  of  her  house  there  lived  a  maiden  lady 
of  seventy,  in  the  most  retired  manner,  of  whom 
my  landlady  gave  me  this  account :  that  she  was  a 
Roman  Catholic,  had  been  sent  abroad  when  young, 
and  lodg'd  in  a  nunnery  with  an  intent  of  becoming 
a  nun  ;  but,  the  country  not  agreeing  with  her,  she 
returned  to  England,  where,  there  being  no  nunnery, 
she  had  vow'd  to  lead  the  life  of  a  nun,  as  near  as 
might  be  done  in  those  circumstances.  Accord 
ingly,  she  had  given  all  her  estate  to  charitable  uses, 
reserving  only  twelve  pounds  a  year  to  live  on,  and 
out  of  this  sum  she  still  gave  a  great  deal  in  charity, 
living  herself  on  water-gruel  only,  and  using  no  fire 
but  to  boil  it.  She  had  lived  many  years  in  that 
garret,  being  permitted  to  remain  there  gratis  by 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  151 

successive  Catholic  tenants  of  the  house  below,  as 
they  deemed  it  a  blessing  to  have  her  there.  A  priest 
visited  her  to  confess  her  everyday.  "I  have  ask'd 
her,"  says  my  landlady,  "  how  she,  as  she  liv'd, 
could  possiby  find  so  much  employment  for  a  con 
fessor?"  "Oh,"  said  she,  "it  is  impossible  to  avoid 
-vain  thoughts."  I  was  permitted  once  to  visit  her. 
She  was  chearful  and  polite,  and  convers'd  plea 
santly.  The  room  was  clean,  but  had  no  other 
furniture  than  a  matras,  a  table  with  a  crucifix 
and  book,  a  stool  which  she  gave  me  to  sit  on,  and 
a  picture  over  the  chimney  of  Saint  Veronica  dis 
playing  her  handkerchief,  with  the  miraculous  figure 
of  Christ's  bleeding  face  on  it,  which  she  explained 
to  me  with  great  seriousness.  She  look'd  pale,  but 
was  never  sick ;  and  I  give  it  as  another  instance 
on  how  small  an  income,  life  and  health  may  be 
supported. 

At  Watts's  printing-house  I  contracted  an  acquaint 
ance  with  an  ingenious  young  man,  one  Wygate, 
who,  having  wealthy  relations,  had  been  better 
educated  than  most  printers  ;  was  a  tolerable  Latin- 
ist,  spoke  French,  and  lov'd  reading.  I  taught  him 
and  a  friend  of  his  to  swim  at  twice  going  into  the 
river,  and  they  soon  became  good  swimmers.  They 
introduc'd  me  to  some  gentlemen  from  the  country, 
who  went  to  Chelsea  by  water  to  see  the  College 
and  Don  Saltero's  curiosities.  In  our  return,  at  the 
request  of  the  company,  whose  curiosity  Wygate 
had  excited,  I  stripped  and  leaped  into  the  river, 


152  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

and  swam  from  near  Chelsea  to  Blackfryar's,  per 
forming  on  the  way  many  feats  of  activity,  both 
upon  and  under  water,  that  surprised  and  pleas'd 
those  to  whom  they  were  novelties. 

I  had  from  a  child  been  ever  delighted  with  this 
exercise,  had  studied  and  practised  all  Thevenot's 
motions  and  positions,  added  some  of  my  own,  aim 
ing  at  the  graceful  and  easy  as  well  as  the  useful. 
All  these  I  took  this  occasion  of  exhibiting  to  the 
company,  and  was  much  flatter'd  by  their  admira 
tion  ;  and  Wygate,  who  was  desirous  of  becoming 
a  master,  grew  more  and  more  attach'd  to  me  on 
that  account,  as  well  as  from  the  similarity  of  our 
studies.  He  at  length  proposed  to  me  travelling  all 
over  Europe  together,  supporting  ourselves  every 
where  by  working  at  our  business.  I  was  once 
inclined  to  it ;  but,  mentioning  it  to  my  good  friend 
Mr.  Denham,  with  whom  I  often  spent  an  hour 
when  I  had  leisure,  he  dissuaded  me  from  it,  advis 
ing  me  to  think  only  of  returning  to  Pennsilvania, 
which  he  was  now  about  to  do. 

I  must  record  one  trait  of  this  good  man's  char 
acter.  He  had  formerly  been  in  business  at  Bristol, 
but  failed  in  debt  to  a  number  of  people,  compounded 
and  went  to  America.  There,  by  a  close  applica 
tion  to  business  as  a  merchant,  he  acquir'd  a  plen 
tiful  fortune  in  a  few  years.  Returning  to  England 
in  the  ship  with  me,  he  invited  his  old  creditors  to 
an  entertainment,  at  which  he  thank'd  them  for  the 
easy  composition  they  had  favored  him  with,  and, 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  153 

when  they  expected  nothing  but  the  treat,  every 
man  at  the  first  remove  found  under  his  plate  an 
order  on  a  banker  for  the  full  amount  of  the  unpaid 
remainder,  with  interest. 

He  now  told  me  he  was  about  to  return  to  Phila 
delphia,  and  should  carry  over  a  great  quantity  of 
goods  in  order  to  open  a  store  there.  He  propos'd 
to  take  me  over  as  his  clerk,  to  keep  his  books,  in 
which  he  would  instruct  me,  copy  his  letters,  and 
attend  the  store.  He  added,  that,  as  soon  as  I 
should  be  acquainted  with  mercantile  business,  he 
would  promote  me  by  sending  me  with  a  cargo  of 
flour  and  bread,  etc.,  to  the  West  Indies,  and  procure 
me  commissions  from  others  which  would  be  profit 
able  ;  and,  if  I  manag'd  well,  would  establish  me 
handsomely.  The  thing  pleas'd  me ;  for  I  was 
grown  tired  of  London,  remembered  with  pleasure 
the  happy  months  I  had  spent  in  Pennsylvania,  and 
wish'd  again  to  see  it;  therefore  I  immediately 
agreed  on  the  terms  of  fifty  pounds  a  year,  Penn 
sylvania  money ;  less,  indeed,  than  my  present 
gettings  as  a  compositor,  but  affording  a  better 
prospect. 

I  now  took  leave  of  printing,  as  I  thought,  for 
ever,  and  was  daily  employ'd  in  my  new  business, 
going  about  with  Mr.  Denham  among  the  tradesmen 
to  purchase  various  articles,  and  seeing  them  pack'd 
up,  doing  errands,  calling  upon  workmen  to  dis 
patch,  etc.  ;  and,  when  all  was  on  board,  I  had  a 
few  days'  leisure.  On  one  of  these  days,  I  was,  to 

G* 


154  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

my  surprise,  sent  for  by  a  great  man  I  knew  only 
by  name,  a  Sir  William  Wyndham,  and  I  waited  upon 
him.  He  had  heard  by  some  means  or  other  of  my 
swimming  from  Chelsea  to  Blackfriar's,  and  of  my 
teaching  Wygate  and  another  young  man  to  swim 
in  a  few  hours.  He  had  two  sons,  about  to  set  out 
on  their  travels ;  he  wish'd  to  have  them  first  taught 
swimming,  and  proposed  to  gratify  me  handsomely 
if  I  would  teach  them.  They  were  not  yet  come 
to  town,  and  my  stay  was  uncertain,  so  I  could  not 
undertake  it ;  but,  from  this  incident,  I  thought  it 
likely  that,  if  I  were  to  remain  in  England  and  open 
a  swimming-school,  I  might  get  a  good  deal  of 
money ;  and  it  struck  me  so  strongly,  that,  had  the 
overture  been  sooner  made  me,  probably  I  should 
not  so  soon  have  returned  to  America.  After  many 
years,  you  and  I  had  something  of  more  importance 
to  do  with  one  of  these  sons  of  Sir  William  Wynd 
ham,  become  Earl  of  Egremont,  which  I  shall  men 
tion  in  its  place. 

Thus  I  spent  about  eighteen  months  in  London  ; 
most  part  of  the  time  I  work'd  hard  at  my  business, 
and  spent  but  little  upon  myself  except  in  seeing 
plays  and  in  books.  My  friend  Ralph  had  kept 
me  poor ;  he  owed  me  about  twenty-seven  pounds, 
which  I  was  now  never  likely  to  receive  ;  a  great 
sum  out  of  my  small  earnings  !  I  lov'd  him,  not 
withstanding,  for  he  had  many  amiable  qualities.  I 
had  by  no  means  improv'd  my  fortune  ;  but  I  had 
picked  up  some  very  ingenious  acquaintance,  whose 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  155 

conversation  was  of  great  advantage  to  me ;  and  I 
had  read  considerably. 

We  sail'd  from  Gravesend  on  the  23d  of  July, 
1726.  For  the  incidents  of  the  voyage,  I  refer  you 
to  my  Journal,  where  you  will  find  them  all  minutely 
related.  Perhaps  the  most  important  part  of  that 
journal  is  the  flan*  to  be  found  in  it,  which  I 
formed  at  sea,  for  regulating  my  future  conduct  in 
life.  It  is  the  more  remarkable,  as  being  formed 
when  I  \vas  so  young,  and  yet  being  pretty  faith 
fully  adhered  to  quite  thro'  to  old  age. 

We  landed  in  Philadelphia  on  the  nth  of  Octo 
ber,  where  I  found  sundry  alterations.  Keith  was  no 
longer  governor,  being  superseded  by  Major  Gordon. 
I  met  him  walking  the  streets  as  a  common  citizen. 
He  seem'd  a  little  asham'd  at  seeing  me,  but  pass'd 
without  saying  any  thing.  I  should  have  been  as 
much  asham'd  at  seeing  Miss  Read,  had  not  her 
friends,  despairing  with  reason  of  my  return  after 
the  receipt  of  my  letter,  persuaded  her  to  marry 
another,  one  Rogers,  a  potter,  which  was  done  in 
my  absence.  With  him,  however,  she  was  never 
happy,  and  soon  parted  from  him,  refusing  to  cohabit 
with  him  or  bear  his  name,  it  being  now  said  that 
he  had  another  wife.  He  was  a  worthless  fellow. 


*  The  "  plan"  referred  to  as  the  most  "  important  part  of  the  Journal," 
is  not  found  in  the  manuscript  Journal  which  was  left  among  Franklin's 
papers.  The  copy  of  the  Journal  that  was  found  was  made  at  Reading 
in  1 787  ;  the  original  is  probably  lost.  See  Smarts'  Memoir  of  Frank 
lin,  Appendix  II. —  P>. 


156  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

tho'  an  excellent  workman,  which  was  the  tempta 
tion  to  her  friends.  He  got  into  debt,  ran  away  in 
1727  or  1728,  went  to  the  West  Indies,  and  died 
there.  Keimer  had  got  a  better  house,  a  shop  well 
supply 'd  with  stationery,  plenty  of  new  types,  a 
number  of  hands,  tho'  none  good,  and  seem'd  to 
have  a  great  deal  of  business. 

Mr.  Denham  took  a  store  in  Water-street,  where 
we  open'd  our  goods ;  I  attended  the  business  dili 
gently,  studied  accounts,  and  grew,  in  a  little  time, 
expert  at  selling.  We  lodg'd  and  boarded  together ; 
he  counsell'd  me  as  a  father,  having  a  sincere  re 
gard  for  me.  I  respected  and  lov'd  him,  and  we 
might  have  gone  on  together  very  happy ;  but,  in 
the  beginning  of  February,  172^,  when  I  had  just 
pass'd  my  twenty-first  year,  we  both  were  taken  ill. 
My  distemper  was  a  pleurisy,  which  very  nearly 
carried  me  off.  I  suffered  a  good  deal,  gave  up  the 
point  in  my  own  mind,  and  was  rather  disappointed 
when  I  found  myself  recovering,  regretting,  in  some 
degree,  that  I  must  now,  some  time  or  other,  have 
all  that  disagreeable  work  to  do  over  again.  I  for 
get  what  his  distemper  was ;  it  held  him  a  long 
time,  and  at  length  carried  him  off.  He  left  me  a 
small  legacy  in  a  nuncupative  will,  as  a  token  of 
his  kindness  for  me,  and  he  left  me  once  more  to 
the  wide  world-;  for  the  store  was  taken  into  the 
care  of  his  executors,  and  my  employment  under 
him  ended. 

My  brother-in-law,  Holmes,  being  now  at  Phila- 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  157 

delphia,  advised  my  return  to  my  business ;  and 
Keimer  tempted  me,  with  an  offer  of  large  wages 
by  the  year,  to  come  and  take  the  management  of 
his  printing-house,  that  he  might  better  attend  his 
stationer's  shop.  I  had  heard  a  bad  character  of 
him  in  London  from  his  wife  and  her  friends,  and 
was  not  fond  of  having  any  more  to  do  with  him.  I 
tri'd  for  farther  employment  as  a  merchant's  clerk  ; 
but,  not  readily  meeting  with  any,  I  clos'd  again 
with  Keimer.  I  found  in  his  house  these  hands  : 
Hugh  Meredith,  a  Welsh  Pensilvanian,  thirty 
years  of  age,  bred  to  country  work ;  honest,  sensi 
ble,  had  a  great  deal  of  solid  observation,  was  some 
thing  of  a  reader,  but  given  to  drink.  Stephen 
Potts,  a  young  countryman  of  full  age,  bred  to  the 
same,  of  uncommon  natural  parts,  and  great  wit 
and  humor,  but  a  little  idle.  These  he  had  agreed 
with  at  extream  low  wages  per  week,  to  be  rais'd  a 
shilling  every  three  months,  as  they  would  deserve 
by  improving  in  their  business  ;  and  the  expectation 
of  these  high  wages,  to  come  on  hereafter,  was 
what  he  had  drawn  them  in  with.  Meredith  was  to 
work  at  press,  Potts  at  book-binding,  which  he,  by 
agreement,  was  to  teach  them,  though  he  knew 
neither  one  nor  t'other.  John ,  a  wild  Irish 
man,  brought  up  to  no  business,  whose  service,  for 
four  years,  Keimer  had  purchased  from  the  captain 
of  a  ship  ;  he,  too,  wras  to  be  made  a  pressman. 
George  Webb,  an  Oxford  scholar,  whose  time  for 
four  years  he  had  likewise  bought,  intending  him 

14 


158  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

for  a  compositor,  of  whom  more  presently ;  and 
David  Harry,  a  country  boy,  whom  he  had  taken 
apprentice. 

I  soon  perceiv'd  that  the  intention  of  engaging 
me  at  wages  so  much  higher  than  he  had  been  us'd 
to  give,  was,  to  have  these  raw,  cheap  hands  form'd 
thro'  me  ;  and,  as  soon  as  I  had  instructed  them,  then 
they  being  all  articled  to  him,  he  should  be  able  to 
do  without  me.  I  went  on,  however,  very  cheerfully, 
put  his  printing-house  in  order,  which  had  been  in 
great  confusion,  and  brought  his  hands  by  degrees 
to  mind  their  business  and  to  do  it  better. 

It  was  an  odd  thing  to  find  an  Oxford  scholar  in 
the  situation  of  a  bought  servant.  He  \vas  not  more 
than  eighteen  years  of  age,  and  gave  me  this  ac 
count  of  himself;  that  he  \vas  born  in  Gloucester, 
educated  at  a  grammar-school  there,  had  been  dis- 
tinguish'd  among  the  scholars  for  some  apparent 
superiority  in  performing  his  part,  when  they  ex 
hibited  plays  ;  belong'd  to  the  Witty  Club  there,  and 
had  written  some  pieces  in  prose  and  verse,  which 
were  printed  in  the  Gloucester  newspapers ;  thence 
he  was  sent  to  Oxford  ;  where  he  continued  about  a 
year,  but  not  well  satisfi'd,  wishing  of  all  things  to 
see  London,  and  become  a  player.  At  length,  re 
ceiving  his  quarterly  allowance  of  fifteen  guineas, 
instead  of  discharging  his  debts  he  walk'd  out  of 
town,  hid  his  gown  in  a  furze  bush,  and  footed  it 
to  London,  where,  having  no  friend  to  advise  him, 
he  fell  into  bad  company,  soon  spent  his  guineas, 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  159 

found  no  means  of  being  introduced  among  the 
players,  grew  necessitous,  pawn'd  his  cloaths,  and 
wanted  bread.  Walking  the  street  very  hungry, 
and  not  knowing  what  to  do  with  himself,  a  crimp's 
bill  was  put  into  his  hand,  offering  immediate  en 
tertainment  and  encouragement  to  such  as  would 
bind  themselves  to  serve  in  America.  He  went 
directly,  sign'd  the  indentures,  was  put  into  the  ship, 
and  came  over,  never  writing  a  line  to  acquaint  his 
friends  what  was  become  of  him.  He  was  lively, 
witty,  good-natur'd,  and  a  pleasant  companion,  but 
idle,  thoughtless,  and  imprudent  to  the  last  degree. 

John,  the  Irishman,  soon  ran  away  ;  with  the  rest 
I  began  to  live  very  agreeably,  for  they  all  respected 
me  the  more,  as  they  found  Keimer  incapable  of 
instructing  them,  and  that  from  me  they  learned 
something  daily.  We  never  worked  on  Saturday, 
that  being  Keimer's  Sabbath,  so  I  had  two  days 
for  reading.  My  acquaintance  with  ingenious  peo 
ple  in  the  town  increased.  Keimer  himself  treated 
me  with  great  civility  and  apparent  regard,  and 
nothing  now  made  me  uneasy  but  my  debt  to  Ver- 
non,  which  I  was  yet  unable  to  pay,  being  hitherto 
but  a  poor  oeconomist.  He,  however,  kindly  made 
no  demand  of  it. 

Our  printing-house  often  wanted  sorts,  and  there 
was  no  letter-founder  in  America ;  I  had  seen  types 
cast  at  James's  in  London,  but  without  much  atten 
tion  to  the  manner ;  however,  I  now  contrived  a 
mould,  made  use  of  the  letters  we  had  as  puncheons, 


160  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

struck  the  matrices  in  lead,  and  thus  supply 'd  in  a 
pretty  tolerable  way  all  deficiencies.  I  also  en- 
grav'd  several  things  on  occasion  ;  I  made  the  ink  ; 
I  was  warehouseman,  and  everything,  and,  in  short, 
quite  a  fac-totum. 

But,  however  serviceable  I  might  be,  I  found  that 
my  services  became  every  day  of  less  importance,  as 
the  other  hands  improv'd  in  the  business  ;  and,  when 
Keimer  paid  my  second  quarter's  wages,  he  let  me 
know  that  he  felt  them  too  heavy,  and  thought  I 
should  make  an  abatement.  He  grew  by  degrees 
less  civil,  put  on  more  of  the  master,  frequently 
found  fault,  was  captious,  and  seem'd  ready  for  an 
outbreaking.  I  went  on,  nevertheless,  with  a  good 
deal  of  patience,  thinking  that  his  encumber'd  cir 
cumstances  were  partly  the  cause.  At  length  a 
trifle  snapt  our  connections ;  for,  a  great  noise  hap 
pening  near  the  court-house,  I  put  my  head  out  of 
the  window  to  see  what  was  the  matter.  Keimer, 
being  in  the  street,  look'd  up  and  saw  me,  call'd  out 
to  me  in  a  loud  voice  and  angry  tone  to  mind  my 
business,  adding  some  reproachful  words,  that  net 
tled  me  the  more  for  their  publicity,  all  the  neigh 
bors  who  were  looking  out  on  the  same  occasion, 
being  witnesses  how  I  was  treated.  He  came  up 
immediately  into  the  printing-house,  continu'd  the 
quarrel,  high  words  pass'd  on  both  sides,  he  gave 
me  the  quarter's  warning  we  had  stipulated,  ex 
pressing  a  wish  that  he  had  not  been  oblig'd  to  so 
long  a  warning.  I  told  him  his  wish  was  unneces- 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  161 

sary,  for  I  would  leave  him  that  instant;  and  so, 
taking  my  hat,  walk'd  out  of  doors,  desiring  Mere 
dith,  whom  I  saw  below,  to  take  care  of  some  things 
I  left,  and  bring  them  to  my  lodgings. 

Meredith  came  accordingly  in  the  evening,  when 
we  talked  my  affair  over.  He  had  conceiv'd  a 
great  regard  for  me,  and  was  very  unwilling  that  I 
should  leave  the  house  while  he  remain'd  in  it.  He 
dissuaded  me  from  returning  to  my  native  country, 
which  I  began  to  think  of;,  he  reminded  me  that 
Keimer  was  in  debt  for  all  he  possess'd ;  that  his 
creditors  began  to  be  uneasy  ;  that  he  kept  his  shop 
miserably,  sold  often  without  profit  for  ready  money, 
and  often  trusted  without  keeping  accounts  ;  that  he 
must  therefore  fail,  which  would  make  a  vacancy  I 
might  profit  of.  I  objected  my  want  of  money.  He 
then  let  me  know  that  his  father  had  a  high  opinion 
of  me,  and,  from  some  discourse  that  had  pass'd  be 
tween  them,  he  was  sure  would  advance  money  to 
set  us  up,  if  I  would  enter  into  partnership  with 
him.  "My  time,"  says  he,  "  will  be  out  with 
Keimer  in  the  spring ;  by  that  time  we  may  have 
our  press  and  types  in  from  London.  I  am  sensible 
I  am  no  workman ;  if  you  like  it,  your  skill  in  the 
business  shall  be  set  against  the  stock  I  furnish,  and 
we  will  share  the  profits  equally." 

The  proposal  was  agreeable,  and  I  consented ; 
his  father  was  in  to\vn  and  approv'd  of  it ;  the  more 
as  he  saw  I  had  great  influence  with  his  son,  had 
prevaiPd  on  him  to  abstain  long  from  dram-drink- 

14* 


102  AUTOBIOGRAPJIY  OF 

ing,  and  he  hop'd  might  break  him  of  that  wretched 
habit  entirely,  when  we  came  to  be  so  closely  con 
nected.  I  gave  an  inventory  to  the  father,  who 
carry'd  it  to  a  merchant ;  the  things  were  sent  for, 
the  secret  was  to  be  kept  till  they  should  arrive,  and 
in  the  mean  time  I  was  to  get  work,  if  I  could,  at 
the  other  printing-house.  But  I  found  no  vacancy 
there,  and  so  remain'd  idle  a  few  days,  when  Keimer, 
on  a  prospect  of  being  employ'd  to  print  some  paper 
money  in  New  Jersey,  which  would  require  cuts 
and  various  types  that  I  only  could  supply,  and 
apprehending  Bradford  might  engage  me  and  get 
the  jobb  from  him,  sent  me  a  very  civil  message,  that 
old  friends  should  not  part  for  a  few  words,  the 
effect  of  sudden  passion,  and  wishing  me  to  return. 
Meredith  persuaded  me  to  comply,  as  it  would  give 
more  opportunity  for  his  improvement  under  my 
daily  instructions  ;  so  I  returned,  and  we  went  on 
more  smoothly  than  for  some  time  before.  The 
New  Jersey  jobb  was  obtain'd,  I  contriv'd  a  copper 
plate  press  for  it,  the  first  that  had  been  seen  in  the 
country ;  I  cut  several  ornaments  and  checks  for 
the  bills.  We  went  together  to  Burlington,  where 
I  executed  the  whole  to  satisfaction  ;  and  he  received 
so  large  a  sum  for  the  work  as  to  be  enabled  thereby 
to  keep  his  head  much  longer  above  water. 

At  Burlington  I  made  an  acquaintance  with  many 
principal  people  of  the  province.  Several  of  them 
had  been  appointed  by  the  Assembly  a  committee 
to  attend  the  press,  and  take  care  that  no  more 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  163 

bills  were  printed  than  the  law  directed.  They 
were  therefore,  by  turns,  constantly  with  us,  and 
generally  he  who  attended,  brought  with  him  a 
friend  or  two  for  company.  My  mind  having  been 
much  more  improv'd  by  reading  than  Keimer's,  I 
suppose  it  was  for  that  reason  my  conversation 
seem'd  to  be  more  valu'd.  They  had  me  to  their 
houses,  introduced  me  to  their  friends,  and  show'd 
me  much  civility ;  while  he,  tho'  the  master, 
was  a  little  neglected.  In  truth,  he  was  an  odd 
fish  ;  ignorant  of  common  life,  fond  of  rudely  op 
posing  receiv'd  opinions,  slovenly  to  extream  dirti 
ness,  enthusiastic  in  some  points  of  religion,  and  a 
little  knavish  withal. 

We  continu'd  there  near  three  months ;  and  by 
that  time  I  could  reckon  among  my  acquired  friends, 
Judge  Allen,  Samuel  Bustill,  the  secretary  of  the 
Province,  Isaac  Pearson,  Joseph  Cooper,  and  several 
of  the  Smiths,  members  of  Assembly,  and  Isaac  De- 
cow,  the  surveyor-general.  The  latter  was  a  shrewd, 
sagacious  old  man,  who  told  me  that  he  began  for 
himself,  when  young,  by  wheeling  clay  for  the 
brickmakers,  learned  to  write  after  he  was  of  age, 
carri'd  the  chain  for  surveyors,  who  taught  him 
surveying,  and  he  had  now  by  his  industry,  acquir'd 
a  good  estate;  and  says  he,  "I  foresee  that  you 
will  soon  work  this  man  out  of  his  business,  and 
make  a  fortune  in  it  at  Philadelphia."  He  had  not 
then  the  least  intimation  of  my  intention  to  set  up 
there  or  anywhere.  These  friends  were  afterwards 


164  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

of  great  use  to  me,  as  I  occasionally  was  to  some  of 
them.  They  all  continued  their  regard  for  me  as 
long  as  they  lived. 

Before  I  enter  upon  my  public  appearance  in 
business,  it  may  be  well  to  let  you  know  the  then 
state  of  my  mind  with  regard  to  my  principles  and 
morals,  that  you  may  see  how  far  those  influenc'd 
the  future  events  of  my  life.  My  parents  had  early 
given  me  religious  impressions,  and  brought  me 
through  my  childhood  piously  in  the  Dissenting 
way.  But  I  was  scarce  fifteen,  when,  after  doubt 
ing  by  turns  of  several  points,  as  I  found  them  dis 
puted  in  the  different  books  I  read,  I  began  to  doubt 
of  Revelation  itself.  Some  books  against  Deism 
fell  into  my  hands  ;  they  were  said  to  be  the  sub 
stance  of  sermons  preached  at  Boyle's  Lectures. 
It  happened  that  they  wrought  an  effect  on  me 
quite  contrary  to  what  was  intended  by  them  ;  for 
the  arguments  of  the  Deists,  which  were  quoted  to 
be  refuted,  appeared  to  me  much  stronger  than  the 
refutations ;  in  short,  I  soon  became  a  thorough 
Deist.  My  arguments  perverted  some  others,  par 
ticularly  Collins  and  Ralph ;  but,  each  of  them 
having  afterwards  wrong'd  me  greatly  without  the 
least  compunction,  and  recollecting  Keith's  conduct 
towards  me  (who  was  another  freethinker) ,  and  my 
own  towards  Vernon  and  Miss  Read,  which  at 
times  gave  me  great  trouble,  I  began  to  suspect  that 
this  doctrine,  tho'  it  might  be  true,  was  not  very 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  165 

useful.  My  London  pamphlet,*  which  had  for  its 
motto  these  lines  of  Dryden  : 

"  Whatever  is,  is   right.     Though  purblind  man 
Sees  but  a  part  o'  the  chain,  the  nearest  link  : 
His  eyes  not  carrying  to  the  equal  beam, 
That  poises  all  above  ;" 

and  from  the  attributes  of  God,  his  infinite  wisdom, 
goodness  and  power,  concluded  that  nothing  could 
possibly  be  wrong  in  the  world,  and  that  vice  and 
virtue  were  empty  distinctions,  no  such  things  exist- 


*  Printed  in  1725. 

Dr.  Franklin  in  a  part  of  a  letter  to  Mr.  B.  Vaughan,  dated  Nov.  9, 
1779,  gives  a  further  account  of  this  pamphlet,  in  these  words  : 

"  It  was  addressed  to  Mr.  J.  R.,  that  is,  James  Ralph,  then  a  youth 
of  about  my  age,  and  my  intimate  friend ;  afterwards  a  political  writer 
and  historian.  The  purport  of  it  was  to  prove  the  doctrine  of  fate,  from 
the  supposed  attributes  of  God ;  in  some  such  manner  as  this  :  that  in 
erecting  and  governing  the  world,  as  he  was  infinitely  wise,  he  knew 
what  would  be  best ;  infinitely  good,  he  must  be  disposed,  and  infinitely 
powerful,  he  must  be  able  to  execute  it :  consequently  all  is  right. 
There  were  only  an  hundred  copies  printed,  of  which  I  gave  a  few  to 
friends,  and  afterwards  disliking  the  piece,  as  conceiving  it  might  have 
an  ill  tendency,  I  burnt  the  rest,  except  one  copy,  the  margin  of  which 
was  filled  with  manuscript  notes  by  Syms,  author  of  the  Infallibility  of 
Human  Judgment,  who  was  at  that  time  another  of  my  acquaintance 
in  London.  I  was  not  nineteen  years  of  age  when  it  was  written.  In 
1730,  I  wrote  a  piece  on  the  other  side  of  the  question,  which  began 
with  laying  for  its  foundation  this  fact :  '  That  almost  all  men  in  all  ages 
and  countries,  have  at  times  made  use  of  prayer.'  Thence  I  reasoned, 
that  if  all  things  are  ordained,  prayer  must  among  the  rest  be  ordained. 
But  as  prayer  can  produce  no  change  in  things  that  are  ordained,  pray 
ing  must  then  be  useless  and  an  absurdity.  God  would  therefore  not 
ordain  praying  if  everything  else  was  ordained.  But  praying  exists, 
therefore  all  things  are  not  ordained,  etc.  This  pamphlet  was  never 
printed,  and  the  manuscript  has  been  long  lost.  The  great  uncertainty 
I  found  in  metaphysical  reasonings  disgusted  me,  and  I  quitted  that 
kind  of  reading  and  study  for  others  more  satisfactory." — B. 


1 66  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

ing,  appear'd  now  not  so  clever  a  performance  as  I 
once  thought  it ;  and  I  doubted  whether  some  error 
had  not  insinuated  itself  unperceiv'd  into  my  argu 
ment,  so  as  to  infect  all  that  follow'd,  as  is  common 
in  metaphysical  reasonings. 

I  grew  convinc'd  that  truth,  sincerity  and  integ 
rity  in  dealings  between  man  and  man  were  of  the 
utmost  importance  to  the  felicity  of  life ;  and  I 
form'd  written  resolutions,  which  still  remain  in  my 
journal  book,  to  practice  them  ever  while  I  lived. 
Revelation  had  indeed  no  weight  with  me,  as  such  ; 
but  I  entertain'd  an  opinion  that,  though  certain 
actions  might  not  be  bad  because  they  were  for 
bidden  by  it,  or  good  because  it  commanded  them, 
yet  probably  those  actions  might  be  forbidden 
because  they  were  bad  for  us,  or  commanded 
because  they  were  beneficial  to  us,  in  their  own 
natures,  all  the  circumstances  of  things  considered. 
And  this  persuasion,  with  the  kind  hand  of  Provi 
dence,  or  some  guardian  angel,  or  accidental  favor 
able  circumstances  and  situations,  or  all  together, 
preserved  me,  thro'  this  dangerous  time  of  youth, 
and  the  hazardous  situations  I  was  sometimes  in 
among  strangers,  remote  from  the  eye  and  advice 
of  my  father,  without  any  willful  gross  immorality 
or  injustice,  that  might  have  been  expected  from  my 
want  of  religion.*  I  say  willful,  because  the  in- 

*  The  words,  "  Some  foolish  intrigues  with  low  women  excepted, 
which  from  the  expense  were  rather  more  prejudicial  to  me  than  to 
them,"  effaced  on  the  revision,  and  the  sentence  which  follows  in  the 
text  written  in  the  margin. — B. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  167 

stances  I  have  mentioned  had  something  of  necessity 
in  them,  from  my  youth,  inexperience,  and  the 
knavery  of  others.  I  had  therefore  a  tolerable 
character  to  begin  the  world  with ;  I  valued  it 
properly,  and  determin'd  to  preserve  it. 

We  had  not  been  long  return'd  to  Philadelphia 
before  the  new  types  arriv'd  from  London.  We 
settled  with  Keimer,  and  left  him  by  his  consent 
before  he  heard  of  it.  We  found  a  house  to  hire 
near  the  market,  and  took  it.  To  lessen  the  rent, 
which  was  then  but  twenty-four  pounds  a  year, 
tho'  I  have  since  known  it  to  let  for  seventy,  we 
took  in  Thomas  Godfrey,  a  glazier,  and  his  family, 
who  were  to  pay  a  considerable  part  of  it  to  us,  and 
we  to  board  with  them.  We  had  scarce  opened  our 
letters  and  put  our  press  in  order,  before  George 
House,  an  acquaintance  of  mine,  brought  a  country 
man  to  us,  whom  he  had  met  in  the  street  inquiring 
for  a  printer.  All  our  cash  was  now  expended  in 
the  variety  of  particulars  we  had  been  obliged  to 
procure,  and  this  countryman's  five  shillings,  being 
our  first-fruits,  and  coming  so  seasonably,  gave  me 
more  pleasure  than  any  crown  I  have  since  earned ; 
and  the  gratitude  I  felt  toward  House  has  made  me 
often  more  ready  than  perhaps  I  should  otherwise 
have  been  to  assist  young  beginners. 

There  are  croakers  in  every  country,  always  bod 
ing  its  ruin.  Such  a  one  then  lived  in  Philadelphia  ; 
a  person  of  note,  an  elderly  man,  with  a  wise  look 
and  a  very  grave  manner  of  speaking ;  his  name 


l68  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

was  Samuel  Mickle.  This  gentleman,  a  stranger 
to  me,  stopt  one  day  at  my  door,  and  asked  me 
if  I  was  the  young  man  who  had  lately  opened  a 
new  printing-house.  Being  answered  in  the  affirm 
ative,  he  said  he  was  sorry  for  me,  because  it  was 
an  expensive  undertaking,  and  the  expense  would 
be  lost ;  for  Philadelphia  was  a  sinking  place,  the 
people  already  half  bankrupts,  or  near  being  so  ; 
all  appearances  to  the  contrary,  such  as  new 
buildings  and  the  rise  of  rents,  being  to  his  certain 
knowledge  fallacious  ;  for  they  were,  in  fact,  among 
the  things  that  would  soon  ruin  us.  And  he  gave 
me  such  a  detail  of  misfortunes  now  existing,  or 
that  were  soon  to  exist,  that  he  left  me  half  melan 
choly.  Had  I  known  him  before  I  engaged  in  this 
business,  probably  I  never  should  have  done  it. 
This  man  continued  to  live  in  this  decaying  place, 
and  to  declaim  in  the  same  strain,  refusing  for  many 
years  to  buy  a  house  there,  because  all  was  going 
to  destruction ;  and  at  last  I  had  the  pleasure  of 
seeing  him  give  five  times  as  much  for  one  as  he 
might  have  bought  it  for  when  he  first  began  his 
croaking. 

I  should  have  mentioned  before,  that,  in  the  au 
tumn  of  the  preceding  year,  I  had  form'd  most  of  my 
ingenious  acquaintance  into  a  club  of  mutual  im 
provement,  which  we  called  the  JUNTO  ;  we  met  on 
Friday  evenings.  The  rules  that  I  drew  up  re 
quired  that  every  member,  in  his  turn,  should  pro 
duce  one  or  more  queries  on  any  point  of  Morals, 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  169 

Politics,  or  Natural  Philosophy,  to  be  discuss'd  by 
the  company  ;  and  once  in  three  months  produce 
and  read  an  essay  of  his  own  writing,  on  any  sub 
ject  he  pleased.  Our  debates  were  to  be  under  the 
direction  of  a  president,  and  to  be  conducted  in  the 
sincere  spirit  of  inquiry  after  truth,  without  fondness 
for  dispute,  or  desire  of  victory ;  and,  to  prevent 
warmth,  all  expressions  of  positiveness  in  opinions, 
or  direct  contradiction,  were  after  some  time  made 
contraband,  and  prohibited  under  small  pecuniary 
penalties. 

The  first  members  were  Joseph  Breintnal,  a  copyer 
of  deeds  for  the  scriveners,  a  good-natur'd,  friendly, 
middle-ag'd  man,  a  great  lover  of  poetry,  reading 
all  he  could  meet  with,  and  writing  some  that  was 
tolerable ;  very  ingenious  in  many  little  Nicknack- 
eries,  and  of  sensible  conversation. 

Thomas  Godfrey,  a  self-taught  mathematician, 
great  in  his  way,  and  afterward  inventor  of  what  is 
now  called  Hadley's  Quadrant.  But  he  knew 
little  out  of  his  way,  and  was  not  a  pleasing  com 
panion  ;  as,  like  most  great  mathematicians  I  have 
met  with,  he  expected  universal  precision  in  every 
thing  said,  or  was  for  ever  denying  or  distinguish 
ing  upon  trifles,  to  the  disturbance  of  all  conversa 
tion.  He  soon  left  us. 

Nicholas  Scull,  a  surveyor,  afterward  surveyor- 
general,  who  lov'd  books,  and  sometimes  made  a 
few  verses. 

15  H 


170  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

William  Parsons,  bred  a  shoemaker,  but,  loving 
reading,  had  acquir'd  a  considerable  share  of  mathe 
matics,  which  he  first  studied  with  a  view  to  astrolo 
gy,  that  he  afterwards  laught  at  it.  He  also  became 
surveyor-general. 

William  Maugridge,  a  joiner,  a  most  exquisite 
mechanic,  and  a  solid,  sensible  man. 

Hugh  Meredith,  Stephen  Potts,  and  George  Webb 
I  have  characteriz'd  before. 

Robert  Grace,  a  young  gentleman  of  some  fortune, 
generous,  lively,  and  witty  ;  a  lover  of  punning  and 
of  his  friends. 

And  William  Coleman,  then  a  merchant's  clerk, 
about  my  age,  who  had  the  coolest,  clearest  head, 
the  best  heart,  and  the  exactest  morals  of  almost  any 
man  I  ever  met  with.  He  became  afterwards  a 
merchant  of  great  note,  and  one  of  our  provincial 
judges.  Our  friendship  continued  without  interrup 
tion  to  his  death,  upward  of  forty  years ;  and  the 
club  continued  almost  as  long,  and  was  the  best 
school  of  philosophy,  morality,  and  politics  that 
then  existed  in  the  province ;  for  our  queries,  which 
were  read  the  week  preceding  their  discussion,  put 
us  upon  reading  with  attention  upon  the  several  sub 
jects,  that  we  might  speak  more  to  the  purpose  ; 
and  here,  too,  we  acquired  better  habits  of  conver 
sation,  every  thing  being  studied  in  our  rules  which 
might  prevent  our  disgusting  each  other.  From 
hence  the  long  continuance  of  the  club,  which  I 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  1 71 

shall   have  frequent   occasion  to  speak  further  of 
hereafter.* 


*  In  a  careful  and  interesting  paper  read  before  the  American  Philo 
sophical  Society  by  Dr.  Patterson,  one  of  its  Vice-Presidents,  on  the 
25th  of  May,  1843,  in  commemoration  of  its  Centennial  Anniversary, 
will  be  found  much  new  and  important  information  about  the  Junto. 
As  this  paper  is  not  generally  accessible,  my  readers  will  excuse  me  for 
quoting  somewhat  freely  from  its  pages.  Dr.  Patterson  says  : 

"  The  Junto  was,  properly  speaking,  a  debating  society.  At  first  it 
met  at  a  tavern ;  but  subsequently  at  the  house  of  one  of  the  members, 
Robert  Grace,  whom  Franklin  characterizes  as  '  a  gentleman  of  some 
fortune,  generous,  lively,  and  witty,  a  lover  of  punning  and  of  his 
friends.'  I  am  happy  to  say  that  Robert  Grace  is  not  without  his  suc 
cessors  in  our  present  society. 

"  One  of  the  rules  of  the  Club  was  that  the  institution  should  be  kept 
a  secret ;  the  intention  being,  as  Franklin  states,  to  avoid  applications 
of  improper  persons  for  admittance.  The  number  of  members  at  any 
one  time  was  limited  to  twelve,  but  vacancies  were  filled  as  they  oc 
curred,  and  the  names  of  twenty-three  members  are  preserved. 

"  On  admission  into  the  Club,  a  course  was  followed  which  is  too  re 
markable  in  itself,  and  in  its  bearing  upon  a  difficult  question  in  the 
history  of  this  Society,  not  to  be  here  introduced.  It  is  thus  presented 
in  Franklin's  papers  : 

"  '  Any  person  to  be  qualified — to  stand  up,  and  lay  his  hand  upon  his 
breast,  and  be  asked  these  questions,  viz.  : 

"'ist.  Have  you  any  particular  disrespect  to  any  present  member? 
Answer  :  I  have  not. 

"  '  2d.  Do  you  sincerely  declare  that  you  love  mankind  in  general,  of 
what  profession  or  religion  soever  ?  Ans.  I  do. 

" '  3d.  Do  you  think  any  person  ought  to  be  harmed  in  his  body, 
name,  or  goods,  for  mere  speculative  opinions,  or  his  external  way  of 
worship  ?  Ans.  No. 

"  '  4th.  Do  you  love  truth  for  truth's  sake,  and  will  you  endeavor  im 
partially  to  find  and  receive  it  yourself,  and  communicate  it  to  others  ? 
Ans.  Yes.' 

"  No  minutes  of  the  proceedings  of  the  original  Junto  are  preserved, 
but  Franklin  mentions  in  his  Autobiography  several  questions  of  great 
interest  which  were  discussed  at  it,  and  several  pieces  read  before  it 
and  afterwards  published  in  his  newspaper. 


172  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

But  my  giving  this  account  of  it  here  is  to  show 
something  of  the  interest  I  had,  every  one  of  these 


"  It  was  at  one  time  proposed  to  increase  the  number  of  members  ; 
but  to  this  Franklin  was  opposed,  and  instead  of  it  he  made  '  a  proposal 
that  every  member  separately  should  form  a  subordinate  club,  with  the 
same  rules  respecting  queries,  etc.,  and  without  informing  them  of  the 
connection  with  the  Junto.'  '  This  project  was  approved,  and  every  mem 
ber  undertook  to  form  a  club  ;  but  they  did  not  all  succeed.  Five  or  six 
only  were  completed,  which  were  called  by  different  names,  as  the  Vine, 
the  Union,  the  Band.'  Of  these  subordinate  companies,  a  brief  para 
graph  in  Franklin's  Life  is  the  only  remaining  record. 

"  While  Franklin  was  abroad,  he  shows  by  his  correspondence  that 
he  still  held  the  institution  of  his  youth  in  affectionate  remembrance. 
This  appears  repeatedly  in  his  letters  to  his  friend  Hugh  Roberts.  He 
calls  it  'the  good  old  Club,'  'the  ancient  Junto.'  So  late  as  1765,  he 
says :  '  I  wish  you  would  continue  to  meet  the  Junto,  notwithstanding 
that  some  effects  of  our  political  misunderstanding  may  sometimes  ap 
pear  there.  It  is  now  perhaps  one  of  the  oldest  clubs,  as  I  think  it  was 
formerly  one  of  the  best,  in  the  king's  dominions.'  Even  in  1766,  he 
writes  :  '  Remember  me  affectionately  to  the  Junto.' 

"  It  appears,  then,  that  the  Junto  continued  in  existence  about  forty 
years.  But  did  it  keep  up  its  original  character  ?  This  may  well  be 
doubted.  The  members  grew  gradually  to  be  old  men,  and  it  is  hardly 
to  be  supposed  that  they  would  submit  to  the  task  of  writing  essays,  or 
would  formally  propose  questions,  and  afterwards  debate  them.  Their  for 
tunes  were  made,  their  education  completed  ;  and  it  is  therefore  much  more 
probable  that  when  the  remnant  of  the  once  youthful  and  active  Junto  met 
together,  they  indulged  themselves  in  social  conversation  and  temperate 
conviviality.  Such  is  said  to  be  the  tradition  in  the  Roberts  family  ;  and 
it  is  confirmed  by  a  letter  from  Dr.  Franklin  to  their  ancestor,  written 
in  1761,  in  which  he  says:  'You  tell  me  you  sometimes  visit  the  an 
cient  Junto.  I  wish  you  would  do  it  oftener.  Since  we  have  held  that  Club 
till  we  are  grown  gray  together,  let  us  hold  it  out  to  the  end.  For  my 
own  part,  I  find  I  love  company,  chat,  a  laugh,  a  glass,  and  even  a  song, 
as  well  as  ever ;  and  at  the  same  time  relish  better  than  I  used  to  do  the 
grave  observations  and  wise  sentences  of  old  men's  conversation ;  so 
that  I  am  sure  the  Junto  will  be  still  as  agreeable  to  me  as  it  ever  has 
been.  I  therefore  hope  it  will  not  be  discontinued,  as  long  as  we  are 
able  to  crawl  together.'  " 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  173 

exerting  themselves  in  recommending  business  to  us. 
Breintnal  particularly  procur'd  us  from  the  Quakers 


In  May,  1765,  Hugh  Roberts  writes  as  follows  to  Dr.  Franklin:  "I 
sometimes  visit  the  worthy  remains  of  the  ancient  Junto,  for  whom  I 
have  a  high  esteem ;  but  alas,  the  political,  polemical  divisions  have  in 
some  measure  contributed  to  lessen  that  harmony  we  there  formerly 
enjoyed."  To  this  letter  Franklin  answers  in  July  following,  urging 
his  friend's  attendance  at  the  Junto,  almost  in  the  same  terms  used  some 
years  before,  and  which  we  have  just  quoted,  and  then  closes  his  ex 
hortation  in  the  following  touching  words  :  "  We  loved  and  still  love 
one  another.  We  are  grown  gray  together,  and  yet  it  is  too  early  to 
part.  Let  us  sit  till  the  evening  of  life  is  spent.  The  last  hours  are 
always  the  most  joyous.  When  we  can  stay  no  longer,  it  is  time  enough 
then  to  bid  each  other  good-night,  separate  and  go  quietly  to  bed." 

The  following  rules  for  the  regulation  of  the  Junto,  drawn  up  in  1728, 
will  give  a  clearer  idea  of  its  character,  and,  I  may  add,  of  the  character 
of  its  members.  Forty  years  later  the  Junto  became  the  nucleus  of  the 
American  Philosophical  Society,  of  which  Franklin  was  the  first  Pre 
sident  :* 

Have  you  read  over  these  queries  this  morning,  in  order  to  consider 
what  you  might  have  to  offer  the  Junto  touching  any  one  of  them  ?  viz. : 

1.  Have  you  met  with  anything  in  the  author  you  last  read,  remark 
able  or  suitable  to  be  communicated  to  the  Junto,  particularly  in  his 
tory,  morality,  poetry,  physic,  travels,  mechanic  arts,  or  other  parts  of 
knowledge  ? 

2.  What  new  story  have  you  lately  heard,  agreeable  for  telling  in 
conversation  ? 

3.  Hath  any  citizen  in  your  knowledge  failed  in  his  business  lately, 
and  what  have  you  heard  of  the  cause  ? 

4.  Have  you  lately  heard  of  any  citizen's  thriving  well,  and  by  what 
means  ? 

5.  Have  you  lately  heard  how  any  present  rich  man,  here  or  else 
where,  got  his  estate  ? 

6.  Do  you  know  of  a  fellow-citizen,  who  has  lately  done  a  worthy 
action,  deserving  praise  and  imitation  ;  or  who  has  lately  committed  an 
error,  proper  for  us  to  be  warned  against  and  avoid  ? 

*  Sharks'  Works  of  Franklin,  vol.  ii.  p.  9. 
15* 


174  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

the  printing  forty  sheets  of  their  history,   the   rest 
being  to  be  done  by  Keimer;   and  upon  this  \ve 


7.  What  unhappy  effects  of  intemperance  have  you  lately  observed 
or  heard  ;  of  imprudence,  of  passion,  or  of  any  other  vice  or  folly? 

8.  What  happy  effects  of  temperance,  of  prudence,  of  moderation,  or 
of  any  other  virtue  ? 

9.  Have    you    or    any   of   your   acquaintance   been   lately   sick    or 
wounded?     If   so,   what   remedies   were   used,   and   what   were    their 
effects  ? 

10.  Whom  do  you  know  that  are  shortly  going  voyages  or  journeys, 
if  one  should  have  occasion  to  send  by  them  ? 

11.  Do  you  think  of  any  thing  at  present  in  which  the  Junto  may  be 
serviceable  to  mankind,  to  their  country,  to  their  friends,  or  to  them 
selves  ? 

12.  Hath  any  deserving  stranger  arrived  in  town  since  last  meeting, 
that  you  have  heard  of?     And  what  have  you  heard  or  observed  of  his 
character  or  merits  ?     And  whether,  think  you,  it  lies  in  the  power  of 
the  Junto  to  oblige  him,  or  encourage  him  as  he  deserves? 

13.  Do  you  know  of  any  deserving  young  beginner  lately  set  up,  whom 
it  lies  in  the  power  of  the  Junto  any  way  to  encourage  ? 

14.  Have  you  lately  observed  any  defect  in  the  laws  of  your  country, 
of  which  it  would  be  proper  to  move  the  legislature  for  an  amendment  ? 
Or  do  you  know  of  any  beneficial  law  that  is  wanting  ? 

15.  Have  you  lately  observed  any  encroachment  on  the  just  liberties 
of  the  people  ? 

16.  Hath  anybody  attacked  your  reputation  lately?     And  what  can 
the  Junto  do  towards  securing  it  ? 

17.  Is  there  any  man  whose  friendship  you  want,  and  which  the  Junto, 
or  any  of  them,  can  procure  for  you  ? 

1 8.  Have  you  lately  heard  any  member's  character  attacked,  and  how 
have  you  defended  it  ? 

19.  Hath  any  man  injured  you  from  whom  it  is  in  the  power  of  the 
Junto  to  procure  redress  ? 

20.  In  what  manner  can  the  Junto,  or  any  of  them,  assist  you  in  any 
of  your  honorable  designs? 

21.  Have  you  any  weighty  affair  on  hand,  in  which  you  think  the  ad 
vice  of  the  Junto  may  be  of  service  ? 

22.  What  benefits  have  you  lately  received  from  any  man  not  pre 
sent  ? 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  1 75 

work'd  exceeingly  hard,  for  the  price  was  low.  It 
was  a  folio,  pro  patria  size,  in  pica,  with  long  primer 
notes.  I  compos'd  of  it  a  sheet  a  day,  and  Mere 
dith  worked  it  off  at  press ;  it  was  often  eleven  at 
night,  and  sometimes  later,  before  I  had  finished  my 
distribution  for  the  next  day's  work,  for  the  little 


23.  Is  there  any  difficulty  in  matters  of  opinion,  of  justice,  and  injus 
tice,  which  you  would  gladly  have  discussed  at  this  time  ? 

24.  Do  you  see  any  thing  amiss  in  the  present  customs  or  proceedings 
of  the  Junto  which  might  be  amended  ? 

When  the  Philosophical  Society  was  instituted,  a  book  containing 
some  of  the  questions  discussed  by  the  Junto  was  put  into  the  hands  of 
Dr.  William  Smith,  who  selected  from  it,  and  published  in  his  "  Eulo- 
gium  on  Franklin"  the  following  specimens  : 

"  Is  sound  an  entity  or  body  ? 

"  How  may  the  phenomena  of  vapors  be  explained  ? 

"  Is  self-interest  the  rudder  that  steers  mankind,  the  universal  mon 
arch  to  whom  all  are  tributaries  ? 

"  Which  is  the  best  form  of  government,  and  what  was  that  form 
which  first  prevailed  among  mankind  ? 

"  Can  any  one  particular  form  of  government  suit  all  mankind  ? 

"  What  is  the  reason  that  the  tides  rise  higher  in  -the  Bay  of  Fundy 
than  the  Bay  of  Delaware  ? 

"  Is  the  emission  of  paper  money  safe  ? 

"  What  is  the  reason  that  men  of  the  greatest  knowledge  are  not  the 
most  happy? 

"  How  may  the  possessions  of  the  Lakes  be  improved  to  our  ad 
vantage  ? 

"  Why  are  tumultuous,  uneasy  sensations  united  with  our  desires  ? 

"Whether  it  ought  to  be  the  aim  of  philosophy  to  eradicate  the 
passions  ? 

"  How  may  smoky  chimneys  be  best  cured  ? 

"  Why  does  the  flame  of  a  candle  tend  upwards  in  a  spire  ? 

"  Which  is  least  criminal — a  bad  action  joined  with  a  good  intention, 
or  a  good  action  with  a  bad  intention  ? 

"  Is  it  consistent  with  the  principles  of  liberty  in  a  free  government 
to  punish  a  man  as  a  libeller  when  he  speaks  the  truth  ?" — B. 


176  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

jobbs  sent  in  by  our  other  friends  now  and  then  put 
us  back.  But  so  determined  I  was  to  continue  doing 
a  sheet  a  day  of  the  folio,  that  one  night,  when, 
having  impos'd  my  forms,  I  thought  my  day's  work 
over,  one  of  them  by  accident  was  broken,  and  two 
pages  reduced  to  pi,  I  immediately  distributed  and 
compos'd  it  over  again  before  1  went  to  bed  ;  and 
this  industry,  visible  to  our  neighbors,  began  to  give 
us  character  and  credit ;  particularly,  I  was  told, 
that  mention  being  made  of  the  new  printing-office 
at  the  merchants'  Every-night  club,  the  general 
opinion  was  that  it  must  fail,  there  being  already 
two  printers  in  the  place,  Keimer  and  Bradford  ;  but 
Dr.  Baird  (whom  you  and  I  saw  many  years  after 
at  his  native  place,  St.  Andrew's  in  Scotland)  gave 
a  contrary  opinion:  "For  the  industry  of  that 
Franklin,"  says  he,  "  is  superior  to  anything  I  ever 
saw  of  the  kind ;  I  see  him  still  at  work  when  I  go 
home  from  club,  and  he  is  at  work  again  before 
his  neighbors  are  out  of  bed."  This  struck  the  rest, 
and  we  soon  after  had  offers  from  one  of  them  to 
supply  us  with  stationery ;  but  as  yet  we  did  not 
chuse  to  engage  in  shop  business. 

I  mention  this  industry  the  more  particularly  and 
the  more  freely,  tho'  it  seems  to  be  talking  in  my 
own  praise,  that  those  of  my  posterity,  who  shall 
read  it,  may  know  the  use  of  that  virtue,  when  they 
see  its  effects  in  my  favour  throughout  this  relation. 

George  Webb,  who  had  found  a  female  friend 
that  lent  him  wherewith  to  purchase  his  time  of 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  177 

Keimer,  now  came  to  offer  himself  as  a  journeyman 
to  us.  We  could  not  then  imploy  him ;  but  I  fool 
ishly  let  him  know  as  a  secret  that  I  soon  intended 
to  begin  a  newspaper,  and  might  then  have  work 
for  him.  My  hopes  of  success,  as  I  told  him,  were 
founded  on  this,  that  the  then  only  newspaper, 
printed  by  Bradford,  was  a  paltry  thing,  wretchedly 
manag'd,  no  way  entertaining,  and  yet  was  profit 
able  to  him  ;  I  therefore  thought  a  good  paper  would 
scarcely  fail  of  good  encouragement.  I  requested 
Webb  not  to  mention  it ;  but  he  told  it  to  Keimer, 
who  immediately,  to  be  beforehand  with  me,  pub 
lished  proposals  for  printing  one  himself,  on  which 
Webb  was  to  be  employ'd.  I  resented  this ;  and, 
to  counteract  them,  as  I  could  not  yet  begin  our 
paper,  I  wrote  several  pieces  of  entertainment  for 
Bradford's  paper,  under  the  title  of  the  BUSY  BODY, 
which  Breintnal  continu'd  some  months.  By  this 
means  the  attention  of  the  publick  was  fixed  on  that 
paper,  and  Keimer' s  proposals,  which  we  burlesqu'd 
and  ridicul'd,  were  disregarded.  He  began  his 
paper,  however,  and,  after  carrying  it  on  three 
quarters  of  a  year,  with  at  most  only  ninety  sub 
scribers,  he  offer'd  it  to  me  for  a  trifle ;  and  I,  hav 
ing  been  ready  some  time  to  go  on  with  it,  took  it  in 
hand  directly ;  and  it  prov'd  in  a  few  years  ex 
tremely  profitable  to  me.* 


*  This  paper  was  called  The  Universal  Instructor  in  all  Arts  and 
Sciences  and  Pennsylvania  Gazette.  Keimer  printed  his  last  number,  the 
39th,  on  the  2$th  day  of  September,  1729. — B. 

II  * 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 


I  perceive  that  I  am  apt  to  speak  in  the  singular 
number,  though  our  partnership  still  continu'd  ;  the 
reason  may  be  that,  in  fact,  the  whole  management 


Its  leading  articles  were  an  installment  of  Chambers'  Dictionary,  Art. 
Air,  a  message  from  Gov.  Burnet  of  the  Province  of  Massachusetts  Kay, 
the  reply  of  the  Assembly,  and  an  obituary  of  the  governor,  who  had 
just  died.  The  following  announcement  filled  the  rest  of  the  sheet : 

"PHILADELPHIA,  September  25. 

"  It  not  quadrating  with  the  circumstances  of  the  printer  hereof,  S.  K., 
to  publish  this  Gazette  any  longer,  he  gives  notice  that  this  paper  con 
cludes  his  third  quarter ;  and  is  the  last  that  will  be  printed  by  him. 
Yet,  that  his  generous  subscribers  may  not  be  baulked  or  disappointed, 
he  has  agreed  with  B.  Franklin  and  H.  Meredith,  at  the  new  printing 
office,  to  continue  it  to  the  end  of  the  year,  having  transferred  the  prop 
erty  wholly  to  them  [D.  Harry  declining  it],*  and  probably  if  further 
encouragement  appears  it  will  be  continued  longer.  The  said  S.  K. 
designs  to  leave  this  province  early  in  the  spring  or  sooner,  if  possibly 
he  can  justly  accommodate  his  affairs  with  every  one  he  stands  in 
debted  to.'' 

The  next  number,  40,  appeared  on  the  2d  of  October,  in  new  type,  with 
the  following  announcement,  the  title  "  Universal  Instructor  in  all  Arts 
and  Sciences"  having  been  dropped,  and  with  it  the  feature  of  the  paper 
which  it  designated  : 

"The  Pennsylvania  Gazette  being  now  to  be  carryed  on  by  other  hands, 
the  reader  may  expect  some  account  of  the  method  we  design  to  pro 
ceed  in. 

"  Upon  a  view  of  Chambers'  great  dictionaries,  from  whence  were  taken 
the  materials  of  The  Universal  Instructor  in  all  Arts  and  Sciences,  which 
usually  made  the  first  part  of  this  paper,  we  find  that  besides  their  con- 
taining  many  things  abstruse  or  insignificant  to  us,  it  will  probably  be 
fifty  years  before  the  whole  can  be  gone  through  in  this  manner  of  pub 
lication.  There  are  likewise  in  those  books  continual  references  from 
things  under  one  letter  of  the  alphabet  to  those  under  another,  which 
relate  to  the  same  subject  and  are  necessary  to  explain  and  complete  it ; 

*  In  the  previous  number  Keimer  announced  that  he  had  made  over  his  business  to 
David  Harry,  with  the  design  to  leave  this  province  as  soon  as  he  could  get  in  his  debts 
and  justly  balance  with  every  one  of  his  few  creditors,  etc.,  etc. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  179 

of  the  business   lay  upon  me.      Meredith  was  no 
compositor,   a  poor   pressman,   and    seldom    sober. 


these  taken  in  their  turn  may  be  ten  years  distant ;  and  since  it  is  likely 
that  they  who  desire  to  acquaint  themselves  with  any  particular  art  or 
science  would  gladly  have  the  whole  before  them  in  a  much  less  time, 
we  believe  our  readers  will  not  think  such  a  method  of  communicating 
knowledge  to  be  a  proper  one. 

"  However,  though  we  do  not  intend  to  continue  the  publication  of 
those  dictionaries  in  a  regular  alphabetical  method,  as  has  hitherto 
been  done  ;  yet,  as  several  things  exhibited  from  them  in  the  course  of 
these  papers,  have  been  entertaining  to  such  of  the  curious  who  never 
had  and  cannot  have  the  advantage  of  good  libraries ;  and  as  there  are 
many  things  still  behind,  which  being  in  this  manner  made  generally 
known,  may  perhaps  become  of  considerable  use  by  giving  such  hints 
to  the  excellent  natural  genius's  of  our  country,  as  may  contribute  either 
to  the  improvement  of  our  present  manufactures  or  towards  the  inven 
tion  of  new  ones ;  we  propose  from  time  to  time  to  communicate  such 
particular  parts  as  appear  to  be  of  the  most  general  consequence. 

"As  to  the  Religious  Courtship,  part  of  which  has  been  retal'd  to  the 
public  in  these  papers,  the  reader  may  be  informed,  that  the  whole  book 
will  probably  in  a  little  time  be  printed  and  bound  by  itself;  and  those 
who  approve  of  it  will  doubtless  be  better  pleased  to  have  it  entire,  than 
in  this  broken,  interrupted  manner. 

"  There  are  many  who  have  long  desired  to  see  a  good  newspaper  in 
Pennsylvania ;  and  we  hope  those  gentlemen  who  are  able,  will  contri 
bute  towards  the  making  this  such.  We  ask  assistance  because  we  are 
fully  sensible,  that  to  publish  a  good  newspaper  is  not  so  easy  an  under 
taking  as  many  people  imagine  it  to  be.  The  author  of  a  Gazette  (in  the 
opinion  of  the  learned)  ought  to  be  qualified  with  an  extensive  acquaint 
ance  with  languages,  a  great  easiness  and  command  of  writing,  and 
relating  things  clearly  and  intelligibly  and  in  few  words ;  he  should  be 
able  to  speak  of  war  both  by  land  and  sea ;  be  well  acquainted  with 
geography,  with  the  history  of  the  time,  with  the  secret  interests  of 
princes  and  States,  the  secrets  of  courts,  and  the  manners  and  customs 
of  all  nations.  Men  thus  accomplished  are  very  rare  in  this  remote  part 
of  the  world  ;  and  it  would  be  well  if  the  writer  of  these  papers  could 
make  up  among  his  friends  what  is  wanting  in  himself. 

"  Upon  the  whole,  we  may  assure  the  publick,  that,  as  far  as  the  en 
couragement  \ve  meet  with  will  enable  us,  no  care  and  pains  shall  be 


I  So  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

My  friends  lamented  my  connection  with  him,  but  I 
was  to  make  the  best  of  it. 

Our  first  papers  made  a  quite  different  appearance 
from  any  before  in  the  province ;  a  better  type,  and 
better  printed ;  but  some  spirited  remarks  of  my 
writing,*  on  the  dispute  then  going  on  between 


omitted  that  may  make  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  as  agreeable  and  useful 
an  entertainment  as  the  nature  of  the  thing  will  allow." 

After  the  publication  of  two  numbers  the  Gazette  was  published  twice 
a  week,  beginning  with  No.  43. — B. 

*  The  following  are  the  spirited  remarks  here  referred  to : 
"  His  excellency,  governor  Burner,  died  unexpectedly  about  two  days 
after  the  date  of  this  reply  to  his  last  message  ;  and  it  was  thought  the 
dispute  would  have  ended  with  him,  or  at  least  have  lain  dormant  till 
the  arrival  of  a  new  governor  from  England,  who  possibly  might  or 
might  not  be  inclined  to  enter  too  vigorously  into  the  measures  of  his 
predecessor.  But  our  last  advices  by  the  post  acquaint  us  that  his 
honor  the  lieutenant-governor  (on  whom  the  government  immediately 
devolves  upon  the  death  or  absence  of  the  commander-in-chief)  has 
vigorously  renewed  the  struggle  on  his  own  account,  of  which  the  par 
ticulars  will  be  seen  in  our  next.  Perhaps  some  of  our  readers  may 
not  fully  understand  the  original  ground  of  this  warm  contest  between 
the  governor  and  assembly.  It  seems  that  people  have  for  these  hun 
dred  years  past,  enjoyed  the  privilege  of  rewarding  the  governor  for  the 
time  being,  according  to  their  sense  of  his  merit  and  services ;  and  few 
or  none  of  their  governors  have  complained,  or  had  cause  to  complain, 
of  a  scanty  allowance.  When  the  late  governor  Burnet  brought  with 
him  instructions  to  demand  a  settled  salary  of  1000  pounds  sterling  per 
annum,  on  him  and  all  his  successors,  and  the  Assembly  were  required 
to  fix  it  immediately ;  he  insisted  on  it  strenuously  to  the  last,  and  they 
as  constantly  refused  it.  It  appears  by  their  votes  and  proceedings  that 
they  thought  it  an  imposition,  contrary  to  their  own  charter,  and  to 
Magna  Charta  ;  and  they  judged  that  there  should  be  a  mutual  depend 
ence  between  the  governor  and  governed  ;  and  that  to  make  the  gov 
ernor  independent  would  be  dangerous  and  destructive  to  their  liber 
ties,  and  the  ready  way  to  establish  tyranny.  They  thought  likewise, 
that  the  province  was  not  the  less  dependent  on  the  crown  of  Great 
Britain,  by  the  governor's  depending  immediately  on  them,  and  his  own 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  I  Si 

Governor  Burnet  and  the  Massachusetts  Assembly, 
struck  the  principal  people,  occasioned  the  paper 
and  the  manager  of  it  to  be  much  talk'd  of,  and 
in  a  few  weeks  brought  them  all  to  be  our  sub 
scribers. 

Their  example  was  follow'd  by  many,  and  our 
number  went  on  growing  continually.  This  was 
one  of  the  first  good  effects  of  my  having  learnt  a 
little  to  scribble  ;  another  was,  that  the  leading  men, 
seeing  a  newspaper  now  in  the  hands  of  one  who 


good  conduct,  for  an  ample  support ;  because  all  acts  and  laws,  which 
he  might  be  induced  to  pass,  must  nevertheless  be  constantly  sent  home 
for  approbation,  in  order  to  continue  in  force.  Many  other  reasons  were 
given,  and  arguments  used  in  the  course  of  the  controversy,  needless  to 
particularize  here,  because  all  the  material  papers  relating  to  it  have 
been  already  given  in  our  public  news. 

"  Much  deserved  praise  has  the  deceased  governor  received  for  his 
steady  integrity  in  adhering  to  his  instructions,  notwithstanding  the 
great  difficulty  and  opposition  he  met  with,  and  the  strong  temptations 
offered  from  time  to  time  to  induce  him  to  give  up  the  point.  And  yet, 
perhaps,  something  is  due  to  the  Assembly  (as  the  love  and  zeal  of  that 
country  for  the  present  establishment  is  too  well  known  to  suffer  any 
suspicion  of  want  of  loyalty),  who  continue  thus  resolutely  to  abide  by 
what  they  think  their  right,  and  that  of  the  people  they  represent ; 
manage  all  the  arts  and  menaces  of  a  governor,  famed  for  his  cunning 
and  politics,  backed  with  instructions  from  home,  and  powerfully  aided 
by  the  great  advantage  such  an  officer  always  has  of  engaging  the  prin 
cipal  men  of  a  place  in  his  party,  by  conferring,  when  he  pleases,  so 
many  posts  of  profit  and  honor.  Their  happy  mother  country  will  per 
haps  observe,  with  pleasure,  that  though  her  gallant  cocks  and  match 
less  dogs  abate  their  natural  fire  and  intrepidity  when  transported  to  a 
foreign  clime  (as  this  nation  is),  yet  her  sons  in  the  remotest  part  of  the 
earth,  and  even  to  the  third  and  fourth  descent,  still  retain  that  ardent 
spirit  of  liberty,  and  that  undaunted  courage,  which  has  in  every  age  so 
gloriously  distinguished  Britons  and  Englishmen  from  the  rest  of 
mankind." — W.  T.  F. 
16 


1 82  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

could  also  handle  a  pen,  thought  it  convenient  to 
oblige  and  encourage  me.  Bradford  still  printed 
the  votes,  and  laws,  and  other  publick  business. 
He  had  printed  an  address  of  the  House  to  the 
governor,  in  a  coarse,  blundering  manner ;  we  re 
printed  it  elegantly  and  correctly,  and  sent  one  to 
every  member.  They  were  sensible  of  the  differ 
ence  :  it  strengthened  the  hands  of  our  friends  in 
the  House,  and  they  voted  us  their  printers  for  the 
year  ensuing. 

Among  my  friends  in  the  House  I  must  not  forget 
Mr.  Hamilton,  before  mentioned,  who  was  then 
returned  from  England,  and  had  a  seat  in  it.  He 
interested  himself  for  me  strongly  in  that  instance, 
as  he  did  in  many  others  afterward,  continuing  his 
patronage  till  his  death.* 

Mr.  Vernon,  about  this  time,  put  me  in  mind  of 
the  debt  I  ow'd  him,  but  did  not  press  me.  I  wrote 
him  an  ingenuous  letter  of  acknowledgment,  crav'd 
his  forbearance  a  little  longer,  which  he  allow'd  me, 
and  as  soon  as  I  was  able,  I  paid  the  principal  with 
interest,  and  many  thanks  ;  so  that  erratum  was  in 
some  degree  corrected. 

But  now  another  difficulty  came  upon  me  which 
I  had  never  the  least  reason  to  expect.  Mr.  Mere 
dith's  father,  who  was  to  have  paid  for  our  printing- 
house,  according  to  the  expectations  given  me,  was 
able  to  advance  only  one  hundred  pounds  currency, 


*  I  got  his  son  once  £$oo  [marg.  note]. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  183 

which  had  been  paid ;  and  a  hundred  more  was 
due  to  the  merchant,  who  grew  impatient,  and  su'd 
us  all.  We  gave  bail,  but  saw  that,  if  the  mone}^ 
could  not  be  rais'd  in  time,  the  suit  must  soon  come 
to  a  judgment  and  execution,  and  our  hopeful  pros 
pects  must,  with  us,  be  ruined,  as  the  press  and 
letters  must  be  sold  for  payment,  perhaps  at  half 
price. 

In  this  distress  two  true  friends,  whose  kindness  I 
have  never  forgotten,  nor  ever  shall  forget  while  I 
can  remember  any  thing,  came  to  me  separately, 
unknown  to  each  other,  and,  without  any  applica 
tion  from  me,  offering  each  of  them  to  advance  me 
all  the  money  that  should  be  necessary  to  enable 
me  to  take  the  whole  business  upon  myself,  if  that 
should  be  practicable ;  but  they  did  not  like  my 
continuing  the  partnership  with  Meredith,  who,  as 
they  said,  was  often  seen  drunk  in  the  streets,  and 
playing  at  low  games  in  alehouses,  much  to  our 
discredit.  These  two  friends  were  William  Cole- 
man  and  Robert  Grace.  I  told  them  I  could  not 
propose  a  separation  while  any  prospect  remain'd 
of  the  Merediths'  fulfilling  their  part  of  our  agree 
ment,  because  I  thought  myself  under  great  obliga 
tions  to  them  for  what  they  had  done,  and  would  do 
if  they  could  ;  but,  if  they  finally  fail'd  in  their  per 
formance,  and  our  partnership  must  be  dissolv'd,  I 
should  then  think  myself  at  liberty  to  accept  the 
assistance  of  my  friends. 

Thus  the  matter  rested  for  some  time,  when  I  said 


184  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

to  my  partner,  "  Perhaps  your  father  is  dissatisfied 
at  the  part  you  have  undertaken  in  this  affair  of 
ours,  and  is  unwilling  to  advance  for  you  and  me 
what  he  would  for  you  alone.  If  that  is  the  case, 
tell  me,  and  I  will  resign  the  whole  to  you,  and  go 
about  my  business."  "No,"  said  he,  "my  father 
has  really  been  disappointed,  and  is  really  unable  ; 
and  I  am  unwilling  to  distress  him  farther.  I  see 
this  is  a  business  I  am  not  fit  for.  I  was  bred  a 
farmer,  and  it  was  a  folly  in  me  to  come  to  town,  and 
put  myself,  at  thirty  years  of  age,  an  apprentice  to 
learn  a  new  trade.  Many  of  our  Welsh  people  are 
going  to  settle  in  North  Carolina,  where  land  is 
cheap.  I  am  inclin'd  to  go  with  them,  and  follow 
my  old  employment.  You  may  find  friends  to 
assist  you.  If  you  will  take  the  debts  of  the  com 
pany  upon  you  ;  return  to  my  father  the  hundred 
pound  he  has  advanced  ;  pay  my  little  personal  debts, 
and  give  me  thirty  pounds  and  a  new  saddle,  I  will 
relinquish  the  partnership,  and  leave  the  whole  in 
your  hands."  I  agreed  to  this  proposal ;  it  was 
drawn  up  in  writing,  sign'd,  and  seal'd  immediately. 
I  gave  him  what  he  demanded,  and  he  went  soon 
after  to  Carolina,  from  whence  he  sent  me  next 
year  two  long  letters,  containing  the  best  account 
that  had  been  given  of  that  country,  the  climate,  the 
soil,  husbandry,  etc.,  for  in  those  matters  he  was 
very  judicious.  I  printed  them  in  the  papers,  and 
they  gave  great  satisfaction  to  the  publick. 

As  soon  as  he  was  gone,  I  recurr'd  to  my  two 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN,  185 

friends ;  and  because  I  would  not  give  an  unkind 
preference  to  either,  I  took  half  of  what  each  had 
offered  and  I  wanted  of  one,  and  half  of  the  other ; 
paid  off  the  company's  debts,  and  went  on  with  the 
business  in  my  o\vn  name,  advertising  that  the  part 
nership  was  dissolved.  I  think  this  was  in  or  about 
the  year  1729.* 

About  this  time  there  was  a  cry  among  the  people 
for  more  paper  money,  only  fifteen  thousand  pounds 
being  extant  in  the  province,  and  that  soon  to  be 
sunk.  The  wealthy  inhabitants  oppos'd  any  addi 
tion,  being  against  all  paper  currency,  from  an  ap 
prehension  that  it  would  depreciate,  as  it  had  done  in 
New  England,  to  the  prejudice  of  all  creditors.  We 
had  discuss'd  this  point  in  our  Junto,  where  I  was 
on  the  side  of  an  addition,  being  persuaded  that  the 
first  small  sum  struck  in  1723  had  done  much  good 
by  increasing  the  trade,  employment,  and  number 
of  inhabitants  in  the  province,  since  I  now  saw  all 
the  old  houses  inhabited,  and  many  new  ones  build 
ing  :  whereas  I  remembered  well,  that  when  I  first 
walk'd  about  the  streets  of  Philadelphia,  eating  my 
roll,  I  saw  most  of  the  houses  in  Walnut-street,  be 
tween  Second  and  Front  streets,  with  bills  on  their 
doors,  "  To  be  let ;"  and  many  likewise  in  Chestnut- 
street  and  other  streets,  which  made  me  then  think 
the  inhabitants  of  the  city  were  deserting  it  one  after 
another. 


*  15y  the  agreement  of  dissolution,  still  extant,  it  appears  that  it  took 
place  July  I4th,  1730. — Sparks. 


1 86  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

Our  debates  possess'd  me  so  fully  of  the  subject, 
that  I  wrote  and  printed  an  anonymous  pamphlet  on 
it,  entitled  "  The  Nature  and  Necessity  of  a  Paper 
Currency  "  It  was  well  receiv'd  by  the  common 
people  in  general ;  but  the  rich  men  dislik'd  it,  for 
it  increas'd  and  strengthen'd  the  clamor  for  more 
money,  and  they  happening  to  have  no  writers 
among  them  that  were  able  to  answer  it,  their  oppo 
sition  slacken'd,  and  the  point  was  carried  by  a 
majority  in  the  House.  My  friends  there,  who  con- 
ceiv'd  I  had  been  of  some  service,  thought  fit  to  re 
ward  me  by  employing  me  in  printing  the  money ; 
a  very  profitable  jobb  and  a  great  help  to  me.  This 
was  another  advantage  gain'd  by  my  being  able  to 
write. 

The  utility  of  this  currency  became  by  time  and 
experience  so  evident  as  never  afterwards  to  be  much 
disputed  ;  so  that  it  grew  soon  to  fifty-five  thousand 
pounds,  and  in  1739  to  eighty  thousand  pounds, 
since  which  it  arose  during  war  to  upwards  of  three 
hundred  and  fifty  thousand  pounds,  trade,  building, 
and  inhabitants  all  the  while  increasing,  tho'  I  now 
think  there  are  limits  beyond  which  the  quantity 
may  be  hurtful. 

I  soon  after  obtain'd,  thro'  my  friend  Hamilton, 
the  printing  of  the  Newcastle  paper  money,  another 
profitable  jobb  as  I  then  thought  it ;  small  things 
appearing  great  to  those  in  small  circumstances ; 
and  these,  to  me,  were  really  great  advantages,  as 
they  were  great  encouragements.  He  procured  for 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  187 

me,  also,  the  printing  of  the  laws  and  votes  of  that 
government,  which  continu'  d  in  my  hands  as  long 
as  I  follow'd  the  business. 

I  now  open'd  a  little  stationer's  shop.  I  had  in  it 
blanks  of  all  sorts,  the  correctest  that  ever  appear'd 
among  us,  being  assisted  in  that  by  my  friend 
Breintnal.  I  had  also  paper,  parchment,  chapmen's 
books,  etc.  One  Whitemash,  a  compositor  I  had 
known  in  London,  an  excellent  workman,  now  came 
to  me,  and  work'd  with  me  constantly  and  diligently  ; 
and  I  took  an  apprentice,  the  son  of  Aquila  Rose. 

I  began  now  gradually  to  pay  off  the  debt  I  was 
under  for  the  printing-house.  In  order  to  secure  my 
credit  and  character  as  a  tradesman,  I  took  care  not 
only  to  be  in  reality  industrious  and  frugal,  but  to 
avoid  all  appearances  to  the  contrary,  I  drest 
plainly  ;  I  was  seen  at  no  places  of  idle  diversion.  I 
never  went  out  a  fishing  or  shooting ;  a  book,  in 
deed,  sometimes  debauch'd  me  from  my  work,  but 
that  was  seldom,  snug,  and  gave  no  scandal ;  and, 
to  show  that  I  was  not  above  my  business,  I  some 
times  brought  home  the  paper  I  purchas'd  at  the 
stores  thro'  the  streets  on  a  wheelbarrow.  Thus 
being  esteem'd  an  industrious,  thriving  young  man, 
and  paying  duly  for  what  I  bought,  the  merchants 
who  imported  stationery  solicited  my  custom  ;  others 
proposed  supplying  me  with  books,  and  I  went  on 
swimmingly.  In  the  mean  time,  Keimer's  credit 
and  business  declining  daily,  he  was  at  last  forc'd 
to  sell  his  printing-house  to  satisfy  his  creditors.  He 


1 88  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

went  to  Barbadoes,  and  there  lived  some  years  in 
very  poor  circumstances. 

His  apprentice,  David  Harry,  whom  I  had  in 
structed  while  I  work'd  with  him,  set  up  in  his 
place  at  Philadelphia,  having  bought  his  materials. 
I  was  at  first  apprehensive  of  a  powerful  rival  in 
Harry,  as  his  friends  were  very  able,  and  had  a  good 
deal  of  interest.  I  therefore  propos'd  a  partnership 
to  him,  which  he,  fortunately  for  me,  rejected  with 
scorn.  He  was  very  proud,  dress'd  like  a  gentle 
man,  liv'd  expensively,  took  much  diversion  and 
pleasure  abroad,  ran  in  debt,  and  neglected  his  busi 
ness  ;  upon  which,  all  business  left  him;  and,  find 
ing  nothing  to  do,  he  follow'd  Keimer  to  Barbadoes, 
taking  the  printing-house  with  him.  There  this 
apprentice  employ'd  his  former  master  as  a  journey 
man  ;  they  quarrel'd  often  ;  Harry  went  continually 
behindhand,  and  at  length  was  forc'd  to  sell  his 
types  and  return  to  his  country  work  in  Pensilvania. 
The  person  that  bought  them  employ'd  Keimer  to 
use  them,  but  in  a  few  years  he  died. 

There  remained  now  no  competitor  with  me  at 
Philadelphia  but  the  old  one,  Bradford  ;  who  was 
rich  and  easy,  did  a  little  printing  now  and  then  by 
straggling  hands,  but  was  not  very  anxious  about 
the  business.  However,  as  he  kept  the  post-office, 
it  was  imagined  he  had  better  opportunities  of  ob 
taining  news  ;  his  paper  was  thought  a  better  distri 
buter  of  advertisements  than  mine,  and  therefore 
had  many  more,  which  was  a  profitable  thing  to 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  189 

him,  and  a  disadvantage  to  me;  for,  tho'  I  did 
indeed  receive  and  send  papers  by  the  post,  yet  the 
publick  opinion  was  otherwise,  for  what  I  did  send 
was  by  bribing  the  riders,  who  took  them  privately, 
Bradford  being  unkind  enough  to  forbid  it,  which 
occasion'd  some  resentment  on  my  part ;  and  I 
thought  so  meanly  of  him  for  it,  that,  when  I 
afterward  came  into  his  situation,  I  took  care  never 
to  imitate  it. 

I  had  hitherto  continu'd  to  board  with  Godfrey, 
who  lived  in  part  of  my  house  \vith  his  wife  and 
children,  and  had  one  side  of  the  shop  for  his 
glazier's  business,  tho'  he  worked  little,  being 
always  absorbed  in  his  mathematics.  Mrs.  Godfrey 
projected  a  match  for  me  with  a  relation's  daughter, 
took  opportunities  of  bringing  us  often  together,  till 
a  serious  courtship  on  my  part  ensu'd,  the  girl  being 
in  herself  very  deserving.  The  old  folks  encour- 
ag'd  me  by  continual  invitations  to  supper,  and  by 
leaving  us  together,  till  at  length  it  W7as  time  to 
explain.  Mrs.  Godfrey  manag'd  our  little  treaty. 
I  let  her  know  that  I  expected  as  much  money  with 
their  daughter  as  would  pay  off  my  remaining  debt 
for  the  printing-house,  which  I  believe  was  not  then 
above  a  hundred  pounds.  She  brought  me  word 
they  had  no  such  sum  to  spare ;  I  said  they  might 
mortgage  their  house  in  the  loan-office.  The  an 
swer  to  this,  after  some  days,  was,  that  they  did  not 
approve  the  match ;  that,  on  inquiry  of  Bradford, 
they  had  been  inform'd  the  printing  business  was 


190  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

not  a  profitable  one ;  the  types  would  soon  be  worn 
out,  and  more  wanted;  that  S.  Keimer  and  D. 
Harry  had  failed  one  after  the  other,  and  I  should 
probably  soon  follow  them  ;  and,  therefore,  I  was 
forbidden  the  house,  and  the  daughter  shut  up. 

Whether  this  was  a  real  change  of  sentiment  or 
only  artifice,  on  a  supposition  of  our  being  too  far 
engaged  in  affection  to  retract,  and  therefore  that 
we  should  steal  a  marriage,  wrhich  would  leave  them 
at  liberty  to  give  or  withhold  what  they  pleas'd,  I 
know  not ;  but  I  suspected  the  latter,  resented  it, 
and  went  no  more.  Mrs.  Godfrey  brought  me 
afterward  some  more  favorable  accounts  of  their 
disposition,  and  would  have  drawn  me  on  again  ; 
but  I  declared  absolutely  my  resolution  to  have 
nothing  more  to  do  with  that  family.  This  was 
resented  by  the  Godfreys ;  we  differ'd,  and  they 
removed,  leaving  me  the  whole  house,  and  I  re 
solved  to  take  no  more  inmates. 

But  this  affair  having  turned  my  thoughts  to  mar 
riage,  I  look'd  round  me  and  made  overtures  of 
acquaintance  in  other  places ;  but  soon  found  that, 
the  business  of  a  printer  being  generally  thought  a 
poor  one,  I  was  not  to  expect  money  with  a  wife, 
unless  with  such  a  one  as  I  should  not  otherwise 
think  agreeable.  In  the  mean  time,  that  hard-to-be- 
governed  passion  of  youth  hurried  me  frequently 
into  intrigues  with  low  women  that  fell  in  my  way, 
which  \vere  attended  with  some  expense  and  great 
inconvenience,  besides  a  continual  risque  to  my 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  191 

health  by  a  distemper  which  of  all  things  I  dreaded, 
though  by  great  good  luck  I  escaped  it.  A  friendly 
correspondence  as  neighbors  and  old  acquaintances 
had  continued  between  me  and  Mrs.  Read's  family, 
who  all  had  a  regard  for  me  from  the  time  of  my 
first  lodging  in  their  house.  I  was  often  invited  there 
and  consulted  in  their  affairs,  wherein  I  sometimes 
was  of  service.  I  piti'd  poor  Miss  Read's  unfortunate 
situation,  who  was  generally  dejected,  seldom  cheer 
ful,  and  avoided  company.  I  considered  my  giddi 
ness  and  inconstancy  when  in  London  as  in  a  great 
degree  the  cause  of  her  unhappiness,  tho'  the  mother 
was  good  enough  to  think  the  fault  more  her  own  than 
mine,  as  she  had  prevented  our  marrying  before  I 
went  thither,  and  persuaded  the  other  match  in  my 
absence.  Our  mutual  affection  was  revived,  but 
there  were  now  great  objections  to  our  union.  The 
match  was  indeed  looked  upon  as  invalid,  a  preced 
ing  wife  being  said  to  be  living  in  England ;  but 
this  could  not  easily  be  prov'd,  because  of  the  dis 
tance  ;  and,  tho'  there  was  a  report  of  his  death,  it 
was  not  certain.  Then,  tho'  it  should  be  true,  he 
had  left  many  debts,  which  his  successor  might  be 
call'd  upon  to  pay.  We  ventured,  however,  over 
all  these  difficulties,  and  I  took  her  to  wife,  Sep 
tember  ist,  1730.  None  of  the  inconveniences 
happened  that  we  had  apprehended  ;  she  proved  a 
good  and  faithful  helpmate,  assisted  me  much  by 
attending  the  shop  ;  we  throve  together,  and  have 
ever  mutually  endeavor'd  to  make  each  other 


192  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

happy.     Thus   I   corrected  that   great  erratum   as 
well  as  I  could.* 


*  Mrs.  Franklin  survived  her  marriage  over  forty  years.  She  died 
December  19,  1774.  She  seems  to  have  been  a  sensible  woman  and 
a  devoted  wife.  Franklin's  correspondence  abounds  with  evidence 
that  their  union  was  a  happy  one,  and  in  a  letter  to  Miss  Catharine  Ray, 
afterwards  wife  of  Gov.  Green  of  Rhode  Island,  who  sent  him  some 
cheese,  he  alludes  to  his  wife  in  a  way  to  reveal  the  ripened  affection 
which  subsisted  between  them.  Sparks,  vol.  vii.  p.  92  : 

"  Mrs.  Franklin  was  very  proud  that  a  young  lady  should  have  so 
much  regard  for  her  old  husband  as  to  send  him  such  a  present.  We 
talk  of  you  every  time  it  comes  to  table.  She  is  sure  you  are  a  sensible 
girl,  and  a  notable  housewife,  and  talks  of  bequeathing  me  to  you  as  a 
legacy ;  but  I  ought  to  wish  you  a  better,  and  hope  she  will  live  these 
hundred  years  ;  for  we  are  grown  old  together,  and  if  she  has  any  faults, 
I  am  so  used  to  them  that  I  don't  perceive  them.  As  the  song  says  : 

"  '  Some  faults  we  have  all,  and  so  has  my  Joan, 

But  then  they're  exceedingly  small ; 
And,  now  I'm  grown  used  to  them,  so  like  my  own, 
I  scarcely  can  see  them  at  all, 

My  dear  friends, 
I  scarcely  can  see  them  at  all.' 

"  Indeed  I  begin  to  think  she  has  none,  as  I  think  of  you.  And  since 
she  is  willing  I  should  love  you  as  much  as  you  are  willing  to  be  loved 
by  me,  let  us  join  in  wishing  the  old  lady  a  long  life  and  a  happy." 

The  author  here  quotes  a  stanza  from  one  of  his  own  "  Songs,"  written 
for  the  Junto.  It  has  been  printed  in  Professor  McVickar's  Life  of  Dr. 
Samuel  Bard : 

"  My  Plain  Country  Joan  ;  A  Song. 

"  Of  their  Chloes  and  Phyllises  poets  may  prate, 

I  sing  my  plain  country  Joan, 

These  twelve  years  my  wife,  still  the  joy  of  my  life, 
Blest  day  that  I  made  her  my  own. 

"  Not  a  word  of  her  face,  of  her  shape,  or  her  air, 

Or  of  flames  or  of  darts  you  shall  hear ; 
I  beauty  admire,  but  virtue  I  prize, 
That  fades  not  in  seventy  year. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  193 

About  this  time,  our  club  meeting,  not  at  a  tavern, 
but  in  a  little  room  of  Mr.  Grace's,  set  apart  for  that 
purpose,  a  proposition  was  made  by  me,  that,  since 
our  books  were  often  referr'd  to  in  our  disquisitions 
upon  the  queries,  it  might  be  convenient  to  us  to 
have  them  altogether  where  we  met,  that  upon  oc 
casion  they  might  be  consulted ;  and  by  thus  club 
bing  our  books  to  a  common  library,  we  should, 
while  we  lik'd  to  keep  them  together,  have  each  of 
us  the  advantage  of  using  the  books  of  all  the  other 
members,  which  would  be  nearly  as  beneficial  as  if 


"Am  I  loaded  with  care,  she  takes  off  a  large  share  : 

That  the  burden  ne'er  makes  me  to  reel  ; 
Does  good  fortune  arrive,  the  joy  of  my  wife 
Quite  doubles  the  pleasure  I  feel. 

"  She  defends  my  good  name,  even  when  I'm  to  blame, 

Firm  friend  as  to  man  e'er  was  given  ; 
Her  compassionate  breast  feels  for  all  the  distressed, 
Which  draws  down  more  blessings  from  heaven. 

"  In  health  a  companion  delightful  and  dear, 

Still  easy,  engaging,  and  free  ; 
In  sickness  no  less  than  the  carefulest  nurse, 
As  tender  as  tender  can  be. 

"  In  peace  and  good  order  my  household  she  guides, 

Right  careful  to  save  what  I  gain ; 
Yet  cheerfully  spends,  and  smiles  on  the  friends 
I've  the  pleasure  to  entertain. 

"  Some  faults  have  we  all,  and  so  has  my  Joan, 

But  then  they're  exceedingly  small  ; 
And,  now  I'm  grown  used  to  them,  so  like  my  own, 
I  scarcely  can  see  them  at  all. 

"  Were  the  finest  young  princess,  with  millions  in  purse, 

To  be  had  in  exchange  for  my  Joan, 
I  could  not  get  better  wife,  might  get  a  worse, 
So  I'll  stick  to  my  dearest  old  Joan." — B. 
I 


194  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

each  owned  the  whole.  It  was  lik'd  and  agreed 
to,  and  we  fill'd  one  end  of  the  room  with  such 
books  as  we  could  best  spare.  The  number  was 
not  so  great  as  we  expected ;  and  tho'  they  had 
been  of  great  use,  yet  some  inconveniences  occur 
ring  for  \vant  of  due  care  of  them,  the  collection, 
after  about  a  year,  was  separated,  and  each  took  his 
books  home  again. 

And  now  I  set  on  foot  my  first  project  of  a  public 
nature,  that  for  a  subscription  library.  I  drew  up 
the  proposals,  got  them  put  into  form  by  our  great 
scrivener,  Brockden,  and,  by  the  help  of  my  friends 
in  the  Junto,  procured  fifty  subscribers  of  forty  shil 
lings  each  to  begin  with,  and  ten  shillings  a  year  for 
fifty  years,  the  term  our  company  was  to  continue. 
We  afterwards  obtain'd  a  charter,  the  company 
being  increased  to  one  hundred :  this  was  the 
mother  of  all  the  North  American  subscription 
libraries,  now  so  numerous.  It  is  become  a  great 
thing  itself,  and  continually  increasing.  These 
libraries  have  improved  the  general  conversation 
of  the  Americans,  made  the  common  tradesmen  and 
farmers  as  intelligent  as  most  gentlemen  from  other 
countries,  and  perhaps  have  contributed  in  some 
degree  to  the  stand  so  generally  made  throughout 
the  colonies  in  defence  of  their  privileges. 

Mcm°.  Thus  far  was  written  with  the  intention 
express'd  in  the  beginning  and  therefore  contains 
several  little  family  anecdotes  of  no  importance  to 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  195 

others.  What  follows  was  written  many  years  after 
in  compliance  with  the  advice  contain'd  in  these 
letters,  and  accordingly  intended  for  the  public. 
The  affairs  of  the  Revolution  occasion'd  the  inter 
ruption. 


Letter  from  Mr.  Abel  James,  with  Notes  of  my 
Life  (received  in  Paris}. 

"  IV  /I"  Y  DEAR  AND  HONORED  FRIEND:  I  have 
J^V JL  often  been  desirous  of  writing  to  thee,  but 
could  not  be  reconciled  to  the  thought,  that  the 
letter  might  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  British,  lest 
some  printer  or  busy-body  should  publish  some  part 
of  the  contents,  and  give  our  friend  pain,  and  my 
self  censure. 

"  Some  time  since  there  fell  into  my  hands,  to 
my  great  joy,  about  twenty-three  sheets  in  thy  own 
handwriting,  containing  an  account  of  the  pa 
rentage  and  life  of  thyself,  directed  to  thy  son,  end 
ing  in  the  year  1730,  with  which  there  were  notes, 
likewise  in  thy  writing ;  a  copy  of  which  I  inclose, 
in  hopes  it  may  be  a  means,  if  thou  continued  it 

196 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  197 

up  to  a  later  period,  that  the  first  and  latter  part 
may  be  put  together ;  and  if  it  is  not  yet  continued, 
I  hope  thee  will  not  delay  it.  Life  is  uncertain, 
as  the  preacher  tells  us ;  and  what  will  the  world 
say  if  kind,  humane,  and  benevolent  Ben.  Franklin 
should  leave  his  friends  and  the  world  deprived  of 
so  pleasing  and  profitable  a  work ;  a  work  which 
would  be  useful  and  entertaining  not  only  to  a  few, 
but  to  millions  ?  The  influence  writings  under  that 
class  have  on  the  minds  of  youth  is  very  great,  and 
has  nowhere  appeared  to  me  so  plain,  as  in  our 
public  friend's  journals.  It  almost  insensibly  leads 
the  youth  into  the  resolution  of  endeavoring  to  be 
come  as  good  and  eminent  as  the  journalist.  Should 
thine,  for  instance,  when  published  (and  I  think  it 
could  not  fail  of  it),  lead  the  youth  to  equal  the  in 
dustry  and  temperance  of  thy  early  youth,  what  a 
blessing  with  that  class  would  such  a  work  be  !  I 
know  of  no  character  living,  nor  many  of  them  put 
together,  who  has  so  much  in  his  power  as  thyself 
to  promote  a  greater  spirit  of  industry  and  early 
attention  to  business,  frugality,  and  temperance  with 
the  American  youth.  Not  that  I  think  the  work 
would  have  no  other  merit  and  use  in  the  world,  far 
from  it ;  but  the  first  is  of  such  vast  importance  that 
I  know  nothing  that  can  equal  it.'' 

The  foregoing  letter  and  the  minutes  accompany 
ing  it  being  shown  to  a  friend,  I  received  from  him 
the  following  : 

17  * 


198  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

Letter  from  Mr.  Benjamin  Vaughan. 

"PARIS,  January  31,  1783. 

4 'Mv  DEAREST  SIR  :  When  I  had  read  over  your 
sheets  of  minutes  of  the  principal  incidents  of  your 
life,  recovered  for  you  by  your  Quaker  acquaintance, 
I  told  you  I  would  send  you  a  letter  expressing  my 
reasons  why  I  thought  it  would  be  useful  to  com 
plete  and  publish  it  as  he  desired.  Various  con 
cerns  have  for  some  time  past  prevented  this  letter 
being  written,  and  I  do  not  know  whether  it  was 
worth  any  expectation  ;  happening  to  be  at  leisure, 
however,  at  present,  I  shall  by  writing,  at  least,  in 
terest  and  instruct  myself;  but  as  the  terms  I  am 
inclined  to  use  may  tend  to  offend  a  person  of  your 
manners,  I  shall  only  tell  you  how  I  would  address 
any  other  person,  who  was  as  good  and  as  great  as 
yourself,  but  less  diffident.  I  would  say  to  him,  Sir, 
I  solicit  the  history  of  your  life  from  the  following 
motives  :  Your  history  is  so  remarkable,  that  if  you 
do  not  give  it,  somebody  else  will  certainly  give  it ; 
and  perhaps  so  as  nearly  to  do  as  much  harm,  as 
your  own  management  of  the  thing  might  do  good. 
It  will  moreover  present  a  table  of  the  internal 
circumstances  of  your  country,  which  will  very 
much  tend  to  invite  to  it  settlers  of  virtuous  and 
manly  minds.  And  considering  the  eagerness  with 
which  such  information  is  sought  by  them,  and  the 
extent  of  your  reputation,  I  do  not  know  of  a  more 
efficacious  advertisement  than  your  biography  would 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  199 

give.  All  that  has  happened  to  you  is  also  con 
nected  with  the  detail  of  the  manners  and  situation 
of  a  rising  people ;  and  in  this  respect  I  do  not 
think  that  the  writings  of  Caesar  and  Tacitus  can  be 
more  interesting  to  a  true  judge  of  human  nature 
and  society.  But  these,  sir,  are  small  reasons,  in 
my  opinion,  compared  with  the  chance  which  your 
life  will  give  for  the  forming  of  future  great  men  ; 
and  in  conjunction  with  your  Art  of  Virtue  (which 
you  design  to  publish)  of  improving  the  features  of 
private  character,  and  consequently  of  aiding  all 
happiness,  both  public  and  domestic.  The  two 
works  I  allude  to,  sir,  will  in  particular  give  a  noble 
rule  and  example  of  self-education.  School  and 
other  education  constantly  proceed  upon  false  prin 
ciples,  and  show  a  clumsy  apparatus  pointed  at  a 
false  mark ;  but  your  apparatus  is  simple,  and  the 
mark  a  true  one ;  and  while  parents  and  young 
persons  are  left  destitute  of  other  just  means  of 
estimating  and  becoming  prepared  for  a  reasonable 
course  in  life,  your  discovery  that  the  thing  is  in 
many  a  man's  private  power,  will  be  invaluable  ! 
Influence  upon  the  private  character,  late  in  life, 
is  not  only  an  influence  late  in  life,  but  a  weak  in 
fluence.  It  is  in  youth  that  we  plant  our  chief  habits 
and  prejudices  ;  it  is  in  youth  that  we  take  our  party 
as  to  profession,  pursuits  and  matrimony.  In  youth, 
therefore,  the  turn  is  given  ;  in  youth  the  education 
even  of  the  next  generation  is  given  ;  in  youth  the 
private  and  public  character  is  determined ;  and  the 


200  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

term  of  life  extending  but  from  youth  to  age,  life 
ought  to  begin  well  from  youth,  and  more  especially 
before  we  take  our  party  as  to  our  principal  objects. 
But  your  biography  will  not  merely  teach  self- 
education,  but  the  education  of  a  wise  man  ;  and 
the  wisest  man  will  receive  lights  and  improve  his 
progress,  by  seeing  detailed  the  conduct  of  another 
wise  man.  And  why  are  weaker  men  to  be  de 
prived  of  such  helps,  when  we  see  our  race  has 
been  blundering  on  in  the  dark,  almost  without  a 
guide  in  this  particular,  from  the  farthest  trace  of 
time?  Show  then,  sir,  how  much  is  to  be  done, 
both  to  sons  and  fathers ;  and  invite  all  wise  men  to 
become  like  yourself,  and  other  men  to  become  wise. 
When  we  see  how  cruel  statesmen  and  warriors  can 
be  to  the  human  race,  and  how  absurd  distinguished 
men  can  be  to  their  acquaintance,  it  will  be  in 
structive  to  observe  the  instances  multiply  of  pacific, 
acquiescing  manners  ;  and  to  find  how  compatible 
it  is  to  be  great  and  domestic,  enviable  and  yet  good- 
humored. 

"The  little  private  incidents  which  you  will  also 
have  to  relate,  will  have  considerable  use,  as  we 
want,  above  all  things,  rules  of  prudence  in  ordinary 
affairs  ;  and  it  will  be  curious  to  see  how  you  have 
acted  in  these.  It  will  be  so  far  a  sort  of  key  to 
life,  and  explain  many  things  that  all  men  ought  to 
have  once  explained  to  them,  to  give  them  a  chance 
of  becoming  wise  by  foresight.  The  nearest  thing 
to  having  experience  of  one's  own,  is  to  have  other 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  2OI 

people's  affairs  brought  before  us  in  a  shape  that  is 
interesting ;  this  is  sure  to  happen  from  your  pen ; 
our  affairs  and  management  will  have  an  air  of  sim 
plicity  or  importance  that  will  not  fail  to  strike  ;  and 
I  am  convinced  you  have  conducted  them  with  as 
much  originality  as  if  you  had  been  conducting  dis 
cussions  in  politics  or  philosophy ;  and  what  more 
worthy  of  experiments  and  system  (its  importance 
and  its  errors  considered)  than  human  life? 

"  Some  men  have  been  virtuous  blindly,  others 
have  speculated  fantastically,  and  others  have  been 
shrewd  to  bad  purposes ;  but  you,  sir,  I  am  sure, 
will  give  under  your  hand,  nothing  but  what  is  at 
the  same  moment,  wise,  practical  and  good.  Your 
account  of  yourself  (for  I  suppose  the  parallel  I  am 
drawing  for  Dr.  Franklin,  will  hold  not  only  in 
point  of  character,  but  of  private  history)  will  show 
that  you  are  ashamed  of  no  origin  ;  a  thing  the 
more  important,  as  you  prove  how  little  necessary 
all  origin  is  to  happiness,  virtue,  or  greatness.  As 
no  end  likewise  happens  without  a  means,  so  we 
shall  find,  sir,  that  even  you  yourself  framed  a  plan 
by  which  you  became  considerable  ;  but  at  the  same 
time  we  may  see  that  though  the  event  is  flattering, 
the  means  are  as  simple  as  wisdom  could  make 
them  ;  that  is,  depending  upon  nature,  virtue,  thought 
and  habit.  Another  thing  demonstrated  will  be 
the  propriety  of  every  man's  waiting  for  his  time  for 
appearing  upon  the  stage  of  the  world.  Our  sen 
sations  being  very  much  fixed  to  the  moment,  we 

I  * 


202  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

are  apt  to  forget  that  more  moments  are  to  follow 
the  first,  and  consequently  that  man  should  arrange 
his  conduct  so  as  to  suit  the  whole  of  a  life.  Your 
attribution  appears  to  have  been  applied  to  your  life, 
and  the  passing  moments  of  it  have  been  enlivened 
with  content  and  enjoyment,  instead  of  being  tor 
mented  with  foolish  impatience  or  regrets.  Such  a 
conduct  is  easy  for  those  who  make  virtue  and  them 
selves  in  countenance  by  examples  of  other  truly 
great  men,  of  whom  patience  is  so  often  the  charac 
teristic.  Your  Quaker  correspondent,  sir  (for  here 
again  I  will  suppose  the  subject  of  my  letter  resem 
bling  Dr.  Franklin),  praised  your  frugality,  dili 
gence  and  temperance,  which  he  considered  as  a 
pattern  for  all  youth ;  but  it  is  singular  that  he 
should  have  forgotten  your  modesty  and  your  dis 
interestedness,  without  which  you  never  could  have 
waited  for  your  advancement,  or  found  your  situa 
tion  in  the  mean  time  comfortable  ;  which  is  a  strong 
lesson  to  show  the  poverty  of  glory  and  the  importance 
of  regulating  our  minds.  If  this  correspondent  had 
known  the  nature  of  your  reputation  as  well  as  I 
do,  he  would  have  said,  Your  former  writings  and 
measures  would  secure  attention  to  your  Biography, 
and  Art  of  Virtue  ;  and  your  Biography  and  Art  of 
Virtue,  in  return,  would  secure  attention  to  them. 
This  is  an  advantage  attendant  upon  a  various  cha 
racter,  and  which  brings  all  that  belongs  to  it  into 
greater  play  ;  and  it  is  the  more  useful,  as  perhaps 
more  persons  are  at  a  loss  for  the  means  of  improv- 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  203 

ing  their  minds  and  characters,  than  they  are  for 
the  time  or  the  inclination  to  do  it.  But  there  is 
one  concluding  reflection,  sir,  that  will  shew  the 
use  of  your  life  as  a  mere  piece  of  biography.  This 
style  of  writing  seems  a  little  gone  out  of  vogue, 
and  yet  it  is  a  very  useful  one ;  and  your  specimen 
of  it  may  be  particularly  serviceable,  as  it  will  make 
a  subject  of  comparison  with  the  lives  of  various  public 
cut-throats  and  intriguers,  and  with  absurd  monastic 
self-tormentors  or  vain  literary  triflers.  If  it  encour 
ages  more  writings  of  the  same  kind  with  your  own, 
and  induces  more  men  to  spend  lives  fit  to  be  written, 
it  will  be  worth  all  Plutarch's  Lives  put  together. 
But  being  tired  of  figuring  to  myself  a  character 
of  which  every  feature  suits  only  one  man  in  the 
world,  without  giving  him  the  praise  of  it,  I  shall 
end  my  letter,  my  dear  Dr.  Franklin,  with  a  per 
sonal  application  to  your  proper  self.  I  am  earn 
estly  desirous,  then,  my  dear  sir,  that  you  should 
let  the  world  into  the  traits  of  your  genuine  cha 
racter,  as  civil  broils  may  otherwise  tend  to  disguise 
or  traduce  it.  Considering  your  great  age,  the 
caution  of  your  character,  and  your  peculiar  style 
of  thinking,  it  is  not  likely  that  any  one  besides 
yourself  can  be  sufficiently  master  of  the  facts  of 
your  life,  or  the  intentions  of  your  mind.  Besides 
all  this,  the  immense  revolution  of  the  present 
period,  will  necessarily  turn  our  attention  towards 
the  author  of  it,  and  when  virtuous  principles  have 
been  pretended  in  it,  it  will  be  highly  important  to 


204  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

shew  that  such  have  really  influenced ;  and,  as  your 
own  character  will  be  the  principal  one  to  receive  a 
scrutiny,  it  is  proper  (even  for  its  effects  upon  your 
vast  and  rising  country,  as  well  as  upon  England 
and  upon  Europe)  that  it  should  stand  respectable 
and  eternal.  For  the  furtherance  of  human  happi 
ness,  I  have  always  maintained  that  it  is  necessary 
to  prove  that  man  is  not  even  at  present  a  vicious 
and  detestable  animal ;  and  still  more  to  prove  that 
good  management  may  greatly  amend  him  ;  and  it 
is  for  much  the  same  reason,  that  I  am  anxious  to 
see  the  opinion  established,  that  there  are  fair  cha 
racters  existing  among  the  individuals  of  the  race ; 
for  the  moment  that  all  men,  without  exception, 
shall  be  conceived  abandoned,  good  people  will 
cease  efforts  deemed  to  be  hopeless,  and  perhaps 
think  of  taking  their  share  in  the  scramble  of  life, 
or  at  least  of  making  it  comfortable  principally  for 
themselves.  Take  then,  my  dear  sir,  this  work 
most  speedily  into  hand  :  shew  yourself  good  as 
you  are  good  ;  temperate  as  you  are  temperate  ;  and 
above  all  things,  prove  yourself  as  one,  who  from 
your  infancy  have  loved  justice,  liberty  and  concord, 
in  a  way  that  has  made  it  natural  and  consistent  for 
you  to  have  acted,  as  we  have  seen  you  act  in  the 
last  seventeen  years- of  your  life.  Let  Englishmen 
be  made  not  only  to  respect,  but  even  to  love  you. 
When  they  think  well  of  individuals  in  your  native 
country,  they  will  go  nearer  to  thinking  well  of 
your  country  ;  and  when  your  countrymen  see  them- 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  205 

selves  well  thought  of  by  Englishmen,  they  will  go 
nearer  to  thinking  well  of  England.  Extend  your 
views  even  further ;  do  not  stop  at  those  who  speak 
the  English  tongue,  but  after  having  settled  so  many 
points  in  nature  and  politics,  think  of  bettering  the 
whole  race  of  men.  As  I  have  not  read  any  part 
of  the  life  in  question,  but  know  only  the  character 
that  lived  it,  I  write  somewhat  at  hazard.  I  am 
sure,  however,  that  the  life  and  the  treatise  I  allude 
to  (on  the  Art  of  Virtue)  will  necessarily  fulfil  the 
chief  of  my  expectations  ;  and  still  more  so  if  you 
take  up  the  measure  of  suiting  these  performances  to 
the  several  views  above  stated.  Should  they  even 
prove  unsuccessful  in  all  that  a  sanguine  admirer  of 
yours  hopes  from  them,  you  will  at  least  have  framed 
pieces  to  interest  the  human  mind ;  and  whoever 
gives  a  feeling  of  pleasure  that  is  innocent  to  man, 
has  added  so  much  to  the  fair  side  of  a  life  otherwise 
too  much  darkened  by  anxiety  and  too  much  injured 
by  pain.  In  the  hope,  therefore,  that  you  will 
listen  to  the  prayer  addressed  to  you  in  this  letter,  I 
beg  to  subscribe  myself,  my  dearest  sir,  etc.,  etc., 
"Signed,  BENJ.  VAUGHAN." 


Continuation  of  the  Account  of  my  Life,  begun  at 
Passy,  near  Paris,  1784. 

It  is  some  time  since  I  receiv'd  the  above  letters, 
but  I  have  been  too  busy  till  now  to  think  of  corn- 


206  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

plying  with  the  request  they  contain.  It  might,  too, 
be  much  better  done  if  I  were  at  home  among  my 
papers,  which  would  aid  my  memory,  and  help  to 
ascertain  dates ;  but  my  return  being  uncertain,  and 
having  just  now  a  little  leisure,  I  will  endeavor  to 
recollect  and  write  what  I  can  ;  if  I  live  to  get  home, 
it  may  there  be  corrected  and  improv'd. 

Not  having  any  copy  here  of  what  is  already  writ 
ten,  I  know  not  whether  an  account  is  given  of  the 
means  I  used  to  establish  the  Philadelphia  public 
library,  which,  from  a  small  beginning,  is  now  be 
come  so  considerable,  though  I  remember  to  have 
come  down  to  near  the  time  of  that  transaction 
(1730).  I  will  therefore  begin  here  with  an  account 
of  it,  which  may  be  struck  out  if  found  to  have  been 
already  given. 

At  the  time  I  establish'd  myself  in  Pennsylvania, 
there  was  not  a  good  bookseller's  shop  in  any  of  the 
colonies  to  the  southward  of  Boston.  In  New  York 
and  Philad'a  the  printers  were  indeed  stationers ; 
they  sold  only  paper,  etc.,  almanacs,  ballads,  and  a 
few  common  school-books.  Those  who  lov'd  read 
ing  were  oblig'd  to  send  for  their  books  from  Eng 
land  ;  the  members  of  the  Junto  had  each  a  few. 
We  had  left  the  alehouse,  where  we  first  met,  and 
hired  a  room  to  hold  our  club  in.  I  propos'd  that 
we  should  all  of  us  bring  our  books  to  that  room, 
where  they  would  not  only  be  ready  to  consult  in 
our  conferences,  but  become  a  common  benefit,  each 
of  us  being  at  liberty  to  borrow  such  as  he  wish'd 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  2Oj 

to  read  at  home.     This  was  accordingly  done,  and 
for  some  time  contented  us. 

Finding  the  advantage  of  this  little  collection,  I 
propos'd  to  render  the  benefit  from  books  more  com 
mon,  by  commencing  a  public  subscription  library. 
I  drew  a  sketch  of  the  plan  and  rules  that  would  be 
necessary,  and  got  a  skilful  conveyancer,  Mr. 
Charles  Brockden,  to  put  the  whole  in  form  of  arti 
cles  of  agreement  to  be  subscribed,  by  which  each 
subscriber  engag'd  to  pay  a  certain  sum  down  for 
the  first  purchase  of  books,  and  an  annual  contribu 
tion  for  increasing  them.  So  few  were  the  readers 
at  that  time  in  Philadelphia,  and  the  majority  of  us 
so  poor,  that  I  was  not  able,  with  great  industry,  to 
find  more  than  fifty  persons,  mostly  young  trades 
men,  willing  to  pay  down  for  this  purpose  forty 
shillings  each,  and  ten  shillings  per  annum.  On 
this  little  fund  we  began.  The  books  were  im 
ported  ;  the  library  was  opened  one  day  in  the 
week  for  lending  to  the  subscribers,  on  their  pro 
missory  notes  to  pay  double  the  value  if  not  duly 
returned.  The  institution  soon  manifested  its  utility, 
was  imitated  by  other  towns,  and  in  other  provinces. 
The  libraries  were  augmented  by  donations  ;  read 
ing  became  fashionable ;  and  our  people,  having 
no  publick  amusements  to  divert  their  attention  from 
study,  became  better  acquainted  with  books,  and  in 
a  few  years  were  observ'd  by  strangers  to  be  better 
instructed  and  more  intelligent  than  people  of  the 
same  rank  generally  are  in  other  countries. 


208  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

When  we  were  about  to  sign  the  above-mentioned 
articles,  which  were  to  be  binding  on  us,  our  heirs, 
etc.,  for  fifty  years,  Mr.  Brockden,  the  scrivener, 
said  to  us,  "  You  are  young  men,  but  it  is  scarcely 
probable  that  any  of  you  will  live  to  see  the  expira 
tion  of  the  term  fix'd  in  the  instrument."  A  num 
ber  of  us,  however,  are  yet  living ;  but  the  instru 
ment  was  after  a  few  years  rendered  null  by  a 
charter  that  incorporated  and  gave  perpetuity  to  the 
company.* 

The  objections  and  reluctances  I  met  with  in  so 
liciting  the  subscriptions,  made  me  soon  feel  the  im 
propriety  of  presenting  one's  self  as  the  proposer  of 
any  useful  project,  that  might  be  suppos'd  to  raise 
one's  reputation  in  the  smallest  degree  above  that  of 
one's  neighbors,  when  one  has  need  of  their  assist 
ance  to  accomplish  that  project.  I  therefore  put 
myself  as  much  as  I  could  out  of  sight,  and  stated  it 
as  a  scheme  of  a  number  of  friends,  who  had  re 
quested  me  to  go  about  and  propose  it  to  such  as 
they  thought  lovers  of  reading.  In  this  way  my 
affair  went  on  more  smoothly,  and  I  ever  after 
practis'd  it  on  such  occasions ;  and,  from  my  fre 
quent  successes,  can  heartily  recommend  it.  The 
present  little  sacrifice  of  your  vanity  will  afterwards 
be  amply  repaid.  If  it  remains  a  while  uncertain 


*  This  library  was  founded  in  1731,  and  incorporated  in  1742.  By  the 
addition  made  to  it  of  the  library  left  by  Dr.  James  Logan,  and  by  an 
nual  purchases,  the  Philadelphia  Library  now  numbers  between  70,000 
and  80,000  volumes. — B. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  209 

to  whom  the  merit  belongs,  some  one  more  vain 
than  yourself  will  be  encouraged  to  claim  it,  and 
then  even  envy  will  be  disposed  to  do  you  justice  by 
plucking  those  assumed  feathers,  and  restoring  them 
to  their  right  owner.* 

This  library  afforded  me  the  means  of  improve 
ment  by  constant  study,  for  which  I  set  apart  an 
hour  or  two  each  day,  and  thus  repair'd  in  some 
degree  the  loss  of  the  learned  education  my  father 
once  intended  for  me.  Reading  was  the  only  amuse 
ment  I  allovv'd  myself.  I  spent  no  time  in  taverns! 
games,  or  frolicks  of  any  kind  ;  and  my  industry  inl 
my  business  continu'd  as  indefatigable  as  it  wasj 
necessary.  I  was  indebted  for  my  printing-house ; 
I  had  a  young  family  coming  on  to  be  educated,  and 
I  had  to  contend  with  for  business  two  printers, 
who  were  established  in  the  place  before  me.  My 
circumstances,  however,  grew  daily  easier.  My 
original  habits  of  frugality  continuing,  and  my  father 
having,  among  his  instructions  to  me  when  a  boy, 
frequently  repeated  a  proverb  of  Solomon,  "  Seesty 
thou  a  man  diligent  in  his  calling,  he  shall  stana"* 
before  kings,  he  shall  not  stand  before  mean  men," 
I  from  thence  considered  industry  as  a  means  of 
obtaining  wealth  and  distinction,  which  encourag'd 
me,  tho'  I  did  not  think  that  I  should  ever  liter- 


*  This  was  a  wise  application  of  one  of  the  most  cynical  precepts  of 
Ovid  in  his  banishment :  "  Crede  mihi,  bene  qui latuit  bene  vixit"  This 
line  was  subsequently  adopted  as  his  motto  by  the  illustrious  author 
of  the  Cartesian  philosophy. —  Tristia  Elegia,  iv.  25. 

18* 


210  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

ally  stand  before  kings,  which,  however,  has  since 
happened ;  for  I  have  stood  before  Jive,  and  even 
had  the  honor  of  sitting  down  with  one,  the  King 
of  Denmark,  to  dinner. 

We  have  an  English  proverb  that  says,  "He  that 
would  thrive,  must  ask  his  wife"  It  was  lucky  for 
me  that  I  had  one  as  much  dispos'd  to  industry  and 
frugality  as  myself.  She  assisted  me  cheerfully  in 
my  business,  folding  and  stitching  pamphlets,  tend 
ing  shop,  purchasing  old  linen  rags  for  the  paper- 
makers,  etc.,  etc.  We  kept  no  idle  servants,  our  table 
was  plain  and  simple,  our  furniture  of  the  cheapest. 
For  instance,  my  breakfast  was  a  long  time  bread 
and  milk  (no  tea),  and  I  ate  it  out  of  a  twopenny 
earthen  porringer,  with  a  pewter  spoon.  But  mark 
how  luxury  will  enter  families,  and  make  a  progress, 
in  spite  of  principle  :  being  call'd  one  morning  to 
breakfast,  I  found  it  in  a  China  bowl,  with  a  spoon 
of  silver  !  They  had  been  bought  for  me  without 
my  knowledge  by  my  wife,  and  had  cost  her  the 
enormous  sum  of  three-and-twenty  shillings,  for 
which  she  had  no  other  excuse  or  apology  to  make, 
but  that  she  thought  her  husband  deserv'd  a  silver 
spoon  and  China  bowl  as  well  as  any  of  his  neigh 
bors.  This  was  the  first  appearance  of  plate  and 
China  in  our  house,  which  afterward,  in  a  course  of 
years,  as  our  wealth  increas'd,  augmented  gradu 
ally  to  several  hundred  pounds  in  value. 

71  had  been  religiously  educated  as  a  Presbyte 
rian  ;  and  tho'  some  of  the  dogmas  of  that  persua- 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  211 

sion,  such  as  the  eternal  decrees  of  God,  election, 
reprobation,  etc.,  appeared  to  me  unintelligible, 
others  doubtful,  and  I  early  absented  myself  from 
the  public  assemblies  of  the  sect,  Sunday  being  my 
studying  day,  I  never  was  without  some  religious 
principles.  I  never  doubted,  for  instance,  the  ex 
istence  of  the  Deity  ;  that  he  made  the  world,  and 
govern'd  it  by  his  Providence ;  that  the  most  accept-  / 
able  service  of  God  was  the  doing  good  to  man  ; 
that  our  souls  are  immortal ;  and  that  all  crime  will 
be  punished,  and  virtue  rewarded,  either  here  or 
hereafter.  These  I  esteem'd  the  essentials  of  every 
religion  ;  and,  being  to  be  found  in  all  the  religions 
we  had  in  our  country,  I  respected  them  all,  tho' 
with  different  degrees  of  respect,  as  I  found  them 
more  or  less  mix'd  with  other  articles,  which,  with 
out  any  tendency  to  inspire,  promote,  or  confirm 
morality,  serv'd  principally  to  divide  us,  and  make 
us  unfriendly  to  one  another.  This  respect  to  all, 
with  an  opinion  that  the  worst  had  some  good  effects, 
induc'd  me  to  avoid  all  discourse  that  might  tend  to 
lessen  the  good  opinion  another  might  have  of  his 
own  religion ;  and  as  our  province  increas'd  in 
people,  and  new  places  of  worship  were  continually 
wanted,  and  generally  erected  by  voluntary  contri 
bution,  my  mite  for  such  purpose,  whatever  might 
be  the  sect,  was  never  refused. 

Tho'  I  seldom  attended  any  public  worship,  I  had 
still  an  opinion  of  its  propriety,  and  of  its  utility 
when  rightly  conducted,  and  I  regularly  paid  my 


212  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

annual  subscription  for  the  support  of  the  only  Pres 
byterian  minister  or  meeting  we  had  in  Philadelphia. 
He  us'd  to  visit  me  sometimes  as  a  friend,  and  ad 
monish  me  to  attend  his  administrations,  and  I  was 
now  and  then  prevail'd  on  to  do  so,  once  for  five 
Sundays  successively.  Had  he  been  in  my  opinion 
a  good  preacher,  perhaps  I  might  have  continued, 
notwithstanding  the  occasion  I  had  for  the  Sunday's 
leisure  in  my  course  of  study  ;  but  his  discourses 
were  chiefly  either  polemic  arguments,  or  explica 
tions  of  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  our  sect,  and  were 
all  to  me  very  dry,  uninteresting,  and  unedifying, 
since  not  a  single  moral  principle  was  inculcated  or 
enforc'd,  their  aim  seeming  to  be  rather  to  make  us 
Presbyterians  than  good  citizens. 

At  length  he  took  for  his  text  that  verse  of  the 
fourth  chapter  of  Philippians,  " Finally ,  brethren, 
whatsoever  things  are  true,  honest,  just,  pure, 
lovely,  or  of  good  report,  if  there  be  any  virtue, 
or  any  -praise,  think  on  these  things"  And  I 
imagin'd,  in  a  sermon  on  such  a  text,  we  could  not 
miss  of  having  some  morality.  But  he  confm'd 
himself  to  five  points  only,  as  meant  by  the  apostle, 
viz.  :  i.  Keeping  holy  the  Sabbath  day.  2.  Being 
diligent  in  reading  the  holy  Scriptures.  3.  Attend 
ing  duly  the  publick  worship.  4.  Partaking  of  the 
Sacrament.  5.  Paying  a  due  respect  to  God's 
ministers.  These  might  be  all  good  things ; 
but,  as  they  were  not  the  kind  of  good  things 
that  I  expected  from  that  text,  I  despaired  of  ever 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  213 

meeting  with  them  from  any  other,  was  disgusted, 
and  attended  his  preaching  no  more.  I  had  some 
years  before  compos'd  a  little  Liturgy,  or  form  of 
prayer,  for  my  own  private  use  (viz.,  in  1728),  en 
titled,  Articles  of  Belief  and  Acts  of  Religion.  I 
return'd  to  the  use  of  this,  and  went  no  more  to  the 
public  assemblies.  My  conduct  might  be  blame- 
able,  but  I  leave  it,  without  attempting  further  to 
excuse  it ;  my  present  purpose  being  to  relate  facts, 
and  not  to  make  apologies  for  them.* 

It  was  about  this  time  I  conceiv'd  the  bold  and 
arduous  project  of  arriving  at  moral  perfection.  I 
wish'd  to  live  without  committing  any  fault  at  any 
time ;  I  would  conquer  all  that  either  natural  incli 
nation,  custom,  or  company  might  lead  me  into.  As 
I  knew,  or  thought  I  knew,  what  was  right  and  I 
wrong,  I  did  not  see  why  I  might  not  always  do  the 
one  and  avoid  the  other.  But  I  soon  found  I  had 


*  Giving  some  advice  to  his  daughter  Sarah,  in  a  letter  written  on  the 
eve  of  his  departure  for  England  in  1764,  the  Doctor  refers  more  at 
length  to  the  subject  of  church  ministration.  He  writes  : 

"  Go  constantly  to  church,  whoever  preaches.  The  act  of  devotion  in 
the  common  prayer-book  is  your  principal  business  there,  and,  if  pro 
perly  attended  to,  will  do  more  towards  amending  the  heart  than  ser 
mons  generally  can  do.  For  they  were  composed  by  men  of  much 
greater  piety  and  wisdom  than  our  common  composers  of  sermons  can 
pretend  to  be ;  and  therefore  I  wish  you  would  never  miss  the  prayer 
days  ;  yet  I  do  not  mean  you  should  despise  sermons  even  of  the 
preachers  you  dislike,  for  the  discourse  is  often  much  better  than  the 
man,  as  sweet  and  clear  waters  come  through  very  dirty  earth.  I  am 
the  more  particular  on  this  head  as  you  seemed  to  express  a  little  before 
I  came  away,  some  inclination  to  leave  our  church,  which  I  would  not 
have  you  do." — Sparks'  Works  of  Franklin,  vol.  vii.  p.  269. — B. 


214  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

undertaken  a  task  of  more  difficulty  than  I  had 
imagined.  While  my  care  was  employ'd  in  guard 
ing  against  one  fault,  I  was  often  surprised  by  an 
other  ;  habit  took  the  advantage  of  inattention  ;  in 
clination  was  sometimes  too  strong  for  reason.  I 
concluded,  at  length,  that  the  mere  speculative  con 
viction  that  it  was  our  interest  to  be  completely  vir 
tuous,  was  not  sufficient  to  prevent  our  slipping ; 
and  that  the  contrary  habits  must  be  broken,  and 
good  ones  acquired  and  established,  before  we  can 
have  any  dependence  on  a  steady,  uniform  rectitude 
of  conduct.  For  this  purpose  I  therefore  contrived 
the  following  method. 

In  the  various  enumerations  of  the  moral  virtues 
I  had  met  with  in  my  reading,  I  found  the  catalogue 
more  or  less  numerous,  as  different  writers  included 
more  or  fewer  ideas  under  the  same  name.  Tem 
perance,  for  example,  was  by  some  confined  to  eat 
ing  and  drinking,  while  by  others  it  was  extended 
to  mean  the  moderating  every  other  pleasure,  appe 
tite,  inclination,  or  passion,  bodily  or  mental,  even 
to  our  avarice  and  ambition.  I  propos'd  to  myself, 
for  the  sake  of  clearness,  to  use  rather  more  names, 
with  fewer  ideas  annex'd  to  each,  than  a  few  names 
with  more  ideas ;  and  I  included  under  thirteen 
names  of  virtues  all  that  at  that  time  occurrd  to  me 
as  necessary  or  desirable,  and  annexed  to  each  a 
short  precept,  which  fully  express'd  the  extent  I 
gave  to  its  meaning. 

These  names  of  virtues,  with  their  precepts  were  : 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  21$ 

i.  TEMPERANCE. 

Eat  not  to  dullness  ;  drink  not  to  elevation. 

2.  SILENCE. 

Speak  not  but  what  may  benefit  others  or  your 
self;  avoid  trifling  conversation. 

3.  ORDER.  . 

Let  all  your  things  have  their  places ;  let  each 
part  of  your  business  have  its  time. 

4.  RESOLUTION. 

Resolve   to    perform   what   you    ought ;    perform 
without  fail  what  you  resolve. 

5.  FRUGALITY. 

Make  no  expense  but  to  do  good  to  others  or 
yourself;  /.  £.,  waste  nothing. 

6.  INDUSTRY. 

Lose  no  time  ;  be  always  employ'd  in  something 
useful ;  cut  off  all  unnecessary  actions. 

7.  SINCERITY. 

Use  no  hurtful  deceit ;  think  innocently  and  justly  ; 
and,  if  you  speak,  speak  accordingly. 

8.  JUSTICE. 

Wrong  none  by  doing  injuries,   or  omitting  the 
benefits  that  are  your  duty. 


216  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

9.  MODERATION. 

Avoid  extrearns ;  forbear  resenting  injuries  so 
much  as  you  think  they  deserve. 

10.  CLEANLINESS. 

Tolerate  no  uncleanliness  in  body,  cloaths,  or 
habitation.  j 

11.  TRANQUILLITY.  \ 

Be  not  disturbed  at  trifles,  or  at  accidents  com 
mon  or  unavoidable. 

12.  CHASTITY. 

Rarely  use  venery  but  for  health  or  offspring, 
never  to  dulness,  weakness,  or  the  injury  of  your 
own  or  another's  peace  or  reputation. 

13.  HUMILITY. 
X         Imitate  Jesus  and  Socrates. 

My  intention  being  to  acquire  the  habitude  of  all 
these  virtues,  I  judg'd  it  would  be  well  not  to  dis 
tract  my  attention  by  attempting  the  whole  at  once, 
but  to  fix  it  on  one  of  them  at  a  time  ;  and,  when  I 
should  be  master  of  that,  then  to  proceed  to  another, 
and  so  on,  till  I  should  have  gone  thro'  the  thirteen ; 
and,  as  the  previous  acquisition  of  some  might  facili 
tate  the  acquisition  of  certain  others,  I  arrang'd 
them  with  that  view,  as  they  stand  above.  Tem 
perance  first,  as  it  tends  to  procure  that  coolness  and 
clearness  of  head,  which  is  so  necessary  where  con 
stant  vigilance  was  to  be  kept  up,  and  guard  main- 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  217 

tained  against  the  unremitting  attraction  of  ancient 
habits,  and  the  force  of  perpetual  temptations.  This 
being  acquir'd  and  establish'd,  Silence  would  be 
more  easy  ;  and  my  desire  being  to  gain  knowledge 
at  the  same  time  that  I  improved  in  virtue,  and  con 
sidering  that  in  conversation  it  was  obtain'd  rather 
by  the  use  of  the  ears  than  of  the  tongue,  and  there 
fore  wishing  to  break  a  habit  I  was  getting  into  of 
prattling,  punning,  and  joking,  which  only  made  me 
acceptable  to  trifling  company,  I  gave  Silence  the 
second  place.  This  and  the  next,  Order,  I  ex 
pected  would  allow  me  more  time  for  attending  to 
my  project  and  my  studies.  Resolution,  once  be 
come  habitual,  would  keep  me  firm  in  my  endeavors 
to  obtain  all  the  subsequent  virtues ;  Frugality  and 
Industry  freeing  me  from  my  remaining  debt,  and 
producing  affluence  and  independence,  would  make 
more  easy  the  practice  of  Sincerity  and  Justice,  etc., 
etc.  Conceiving  then,  that,  agreeably  to  the  advice 
of  Pythagoras  in  his  Golden  Verses,*  daily  exami- 


*  The  verses  here  referred  to  are  thus  given  as  Englished  from  the 
version  of  Hierocles  : 

"  In  this  place  you  should  collect  together  the  sense  of  all  the  fore 
going  precepts,  that  so  giving  heed  to  them  as  to  the  laws  of  God  in  the 
inward  judicature  of  the  soul,  you  may  make  a  just  examination  of  what 
you  have  done  well  or  ill.  For  how  will  our  remembrance  reprehend  us 
for  doing  ill,  or  praise  us  fordoing  well,  unless  the  preceding  meditation 
receive  some  laws,  according  to  which  the  whole  tenor  of  our  life  should 
be  ordered,  and  to  which  we  should  conform  the  very  private  recesses 
of  conscience  all  our  lives  long  ?  He  requires  also  that  this  examina 
tion  be  daily  repeated,  that  by  continual  returns  of  recollection  we  may  not 
be  deceived  in  our  judgment.  The  time  which  he  recommends  for  this 
work  is  about  even  or  bed-time,  that  we  may  conclude  the  action  of  the  day 
19  K 


218  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

nation  would  be  necessary,  I  contrived  the  following 
method  for  conducting  that  examination. 


with  the  judgment  of  conscience,  making  the  examination  of  our  con 
versation  an  evening  song  to  God.  Wherein  have  I  transgressed? 
What  have  I  done  ?  What  duty  have  I  omitted  ?  So  shall  we  measure 
our  lives  by  the  rules  above  mentioned,  if  to  the  law  of  the  mind  we 
join  the  judgment  of  reason. 

"  \Vhat  then  does  the  law  of  the  mind  say  ?  That  we  should  honor 
the  more  excellent  natures  according  to  their  essential  order,  that  we 
should  have  our  parents  and  relations  in  high  esteem,  love  and  embrace 
good  men,  raise  ourselves  above  corporeal  affections,  everywhere  stand 
in  awe  of  ourselves,  carefully  observe  justice,  consider  the  frailty  of 
riches  and  momentary  life,  embrace  the  lot  which  falls  to  us  by  divine 
judgment,  delight  in  a  divine  frame  of  spirit,  convert  our  mind  to  what 
is  most  excellent,  love  good  discourses,  not  lie  open  to  impostures,  not 
be  servilely  affected  in  the  possession  of  virtue,  advise  before  action  to 
prevent  repentance,  free  ourselves  from  uncertain  opinions,  live  with 
knowledge,  and  lastly,  that  we  should  adapt  our  bodies  and  the  things 
without  to  the  exercise  of  virtue.  These  are  the  things  which  the  law- 
giving  mind  has  implanted  in  the  souls  of  men,  which  when  reason  ad 
mits,  it  becomes  a  most  vigilant  judge  of  itself,  in  this  manner,  Wherein 
have  I  transgressed  ?  what  have  I  done  ?  and  if  afterwards  she  finds  her 
self  to  have  spent  the  whole  day  agreeably  to  the  foregoing  rules,  she  is 
rewarded  with  a  divine  complacency.  And  if  she  find  anything  done 
amiss,  she  corrects  herself  by  the  restorative  of  an  after  admonition. 

"  Wherefore  he  would  have  us  keep  off  sleep  by  the  readiness  and 
alacrity  of  reason.  And  this  the  body  will  easily  endure,  if  temperately 
dieted  it  has  not  contracted  a  necessity  of  sleeping.  By  which  means 
even  our  most  natural  appetites  are  subjected  to  the  empire  of  reason. 

"Do  not  admit  sleep  (says  he)  till  you  have  examin'd  every  action  of 
the  day.  And  what  is  the  form  of  examination  ?  Wherein  have  I  trans- 
gress'd  ?  what  have  I  done  ?  what  duty  have  I  omitted  ?  For  we  sin 
two  ways.  By  doing  what  we  should  not,  and  by  not  doing  what  we 
should.  For  'tis  one  thing  not  to  do  well,  and  another  thing  to  commit 
evil.  One  is  a  sin  of  omission,  and  the  other  of  commission. 

"  For  instance,  'tis  our  duty  to  pray,  but  not  to  blaspheme ;  to  nourish 
our  parents,  but  not  to  revile  them.  He  that  does  the  former  of  these 
does  what  he  ought,  he  that  does  the  latter  what  he  ought  not.  Though 
there  is  as  much  guilt  in  a  sin  of  omission  as  in  a  sin  of  commission. 

"  He  exhorts  also  that  we  proceed  methodically  in  our  examination 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  219 

I  made  a  little  book,  in  which  I  allotted  a  page 
for  each  of  the  virtues.  I  rul'd  each  page  with  red 
ink,  so  as  to  have  seven  columns,  one  for  each  day 
of  the  week,  marking  each  column  with  a  letter  for 
the  day.  I  cross'd  these  columns  with  thirteen  red 
lines,  marking  the  beginning  of  each  line  with  the 
first  letter  of  one  of  the  virtues,  on  which  line,  and 
in  its  proper  column,  I  might  mark,  by  a  little  black 
spot,  every  fault  I  found  upon  examination  to  have 
been  committed  respecting  that  virtue  upon  that 
day.* 


from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  leaving  nothing  out  in  the  middle,  which 
is  implied  by  the  word,  runover.  For  oftentimes  change  of  order  deceives 
the  judgment,  and  makes  us  favorable  to  our  ill  actions  through  dis 
order  of  memory.  Besides,  a  daily  recollection  of  our  actions  begets 
care  and  studiousness  of  conversation,  and  a  sense  of  our  immortality. 
And  this  is  worth  our  admiration,  that  when  he  bid  us  recollect  every 
thing,  yet  he  added  not,  Wherein  have  I  done  well  ?  or  what  duty  have 
I  perform'd  ?  But  he  turn'd  the  memory  to  what  was  a  less  occasion  of 
pride,  requiring  a  scrutiny  only  of  our  sins.  And  as  for  the  judge,  he 
has  constituted  that  which  is  most  just  and  impartial,  and  most  intimate 
and  domestick,  the  conscience,  right  reason,  or  a  man's  self,  which  he 
had  before  caution'd  us  to  stand  in  awe  of  above  all  things.  For 
who  can  so  admonish  another  as  every  man  can  himself  ?  For  he 
that  is  at  his  own  liberty  will  use  the  freedom  of  nature,  and  shake  off 
the  admonitions  of  others,  when  he  is  not  minded  to  follow  them.  But 
reason,  which  is  within  us,  cannot  chuse  but  hear  itself.  God  has  set 
this  over  us  as  a  guardian,  instructor  and  schoolmaster.  And  this  the 
verse  makes  the  judge  of  the  day's  action,  acquiesces  in  its  determina 
tion  whether  it  condemns  or  approves  itself.  For  when  it  reads  over 
what  is  done  in  the  register  of  memory,  then,  looking  to  the  exemplar  of 
the  law,  it  pronounces  itself  worthy  of  honor  or  dishonor.  This  course, 
if  daily  follow'd,  perfects  the  divine  image  in  them  that  use  it,  leading 
them  by  additions  and  subtractions  to  the  beauty  of  virtue,  and  all  attain 
able  perfection.  For  here  end  the  instructions  about  civil  virtue." — B. 
*  This  "little  book"  is  dated  ist  of  July,  1733. — W.  T.  F. 


220 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 


Form  of  the  -pages. 


TEMPERANCE. 

EAT   NOT  TO   DULNESS  ; 
DRINK   NOT  TO   ELEVATION. 

S. 

M. 

T. 

W. 

T. 

F. 

S. 

T. 

S. 

* 

* 

* 

* 

o. 

*  * 

* 

# 

# 

* 

* 

R. 

* 

* 

F. 

* 

# 

I. 

* 

S. 

I 

M. 

C. 

T. 

C. 

H. 

I  determined  to  give  a  week's  strict  attention  to 
each  of  the  virtues  successively.  Thus,  in  the  first 
week,  my  great  guard  was  to  avoid  every  the  least 
offence  against  Temperance^  leaving  the  other  vir 
tues  to  their  ordinary  chance,  only  marking  every 
evening  the  faults  of  the  day.  Thus,  if  in  the  first 
week  I  could  keep  my  first  line,  marked  T,  clear  of 
spots,  I  suppos'd  the  habit  of  that  virtue  so  much 
strengthen'd,  and  its  opposite  weaken'd,  that  I  might 
venture  extending  my  attention  to  include  the  next, 
and  for  the  following  week  keep  both  lines  clear  of 
spots.  Proceeding  thus  to  the  last,  I  could  go 
thro'  a  course  compleat  in  thirteen  weeks,  and  four 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  221 

courses  in  a  year.  And  like  him  who,  having  a 
garden  to  weed,  does  not  attempt  to  eradicate  all 
the  bad  herbs  at  once,  which  \vould  exceed  his  reach 
and  his  strength,  but  works  on  one  of  the  beds  at  a 
time,  and,  having  accomplish'd  the  first,  proceeds  to 
a  second,  so  I  should  have,  I  hoped,  the  encourag 
ing  pleasure  of  seeing  on  my  pages  the  progress  I 
made  in  virtue,  by  clearing  successively  my  lines 
of  their  spots,  till  in  the  end,  by  a  number  of  courses, 
I  should  be  happy  in  viewing  a  clean  book,  after  a 
thirteen  weeks'  daily  examination. 

This  my  little  book  had  for  its  motto  these  lines 
from  Addison's  Cato : 

"  Here  will  I  hold.     If  there's  a  power  above  us 
(And  that  there  is,  all  nature  cries  aloud 
Thro'  all  her  works),  He  must  delight  in  virtue  ; 
And  that  which  he  delights  in  must  be  happy." 

Another  from  Cicero, 

"  O  vitae  Philosophia  dux  !  O  virtutum  indagatrix  expultrixque  vitio- 
rum  !  Unus  dies,  bene  et  ex  praeceptis  tuis  actus,  peccanti  immortalitati 
est  anteponendus." 

Another  from  the  Proverbs  of  Solomon,  speaking 
of  wisdom  or  virtue  : 

"  Length  of  days  is  in  her  right  hand,  and  in  her  left  hand  riches  and 
honour.  Her  ways  are  ways  of  pleasantness,  and  all  her  paths  are 
peace."  iii.  16,  17. 

And  conceiving  God  to  be  the  fountain  of  wisdom, 
I  thought  it  right  and  necessary  to  solicit  his  assist 
ance  for  obtaining  it;  to  this  end  I  formed  the 

19* 


222 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 


following  little    prayer,  which  was    prefix'd  to  my 
tables  of  examination,  for  daily  use. 

"  O  powerful  Goodness  !  bountiful  father  !  merciful  Guide  !  Increase 
in  me  that  "wisdom  which  discoz>ers  my  truest  interest.  Strengthen  my 
resolutions  to  perform  what  that  wisdom  dictates.  Accept  my  kind  offices 
to  thy  other  children  as  the  only  return  in  my  power  for  thy  continual 
favours  to  we." 

I  used  also  sometimes  a  little  prayer  which  I  took 
from  Thomson's  Poems,  viz.  : 

"  Father  of  light  and  life,  thou  Good  Supreme  ! 
O  teach  me  what  is  good  ;  teach  me  Thyself ! 
Save  me  from  folly,  vanity,  and  vice, 
From  every  low  pursuit ;  and  fill  my  soul 
With  knowledge,  conscious  peace,  and  virtue  pure  ; 
Sacred,  substantial,  never-fading  bliss  !" 

The  precept  of  Order  requiring  that  every  -part 
of  my  business  should  have  its  allotted  time,  one 
page  in  my  little  book  contain'd  the  following 
scheme  of  employment  for  the  twenty-four  hours  of 
a  natural  day. 


THE  MORNING. 
Question.     What  good  shall  I 
do  this  day  ? 


Rise,  wash,  and  address  Pow 
erful  Goodness !  Contrive  day's 
business,  and  take  the  resolution 
of  the  day ;  prosecute  the  pre 
sent  study,  and  breakfast. 

-  Work. 


NOON. 


12  \       Read,   or    overlook    my 
i  )   counts,  and  dine. 


Work. 


BENJAMIN  FRANK  LIN. 


223 


EVENING. 

Question.     What  good  have  I 
done  to-day? 


NIGHT. 


Put  things  in  their  places. 
Supper.  Music  or  diversion, 
or  conversation.  Examination 
of  the  day. 


Sleep. 


I  enter'd  upon  the  execution  of  this  plan  for  self- 
examination,  and  continu'd  it  with  occasional  inter 
missions  for  some  time.  I  was  surpris'd  to  find 
myself  so  much  fuller  of  faults  than  I  had  imagined  ; 
but  I  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  them  diminish. 
To  avoid  the  trouble  of  renewing  now  and  then  my 
little  book,  which,  by  scraping  out  the  marks  on  the 
paper  of  old  faults  to  make  room  for  new  ones  in  a 
new  course,  became  full  of  holes,  I  transferr'd  my 
tables  and  precepts  to  the  ivory  leaves  of  a  memo 
randum  book,  on  which  the  lines  were  drawn  with 
red  ink,  that  made  a  durable  stain,  and  on  those 
lines  I  mark'd  my  faults  with  a  black-lead  pencil, 
which  marks  I  could  easily  wipe  out  with  a  wet 
sponge.  After  a  while  I  went  thro'  one  course  only 
in  a  year,  and  afterward  only  one  in  several  years, 
till  at  length  I  omitted  them  entirely,  being  employ'd 
in  voyages  and  business  abroad,  with  a  multiplicity 
of  affairs  that  interfered  ;  but  I  always  carried  my 
little  book  with  me. 

My  scheme  of  ORDER  gave  me  the  most  trouble ; 


224  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

and  I  found  that,  tho'  it  might  be  practicable  where 
a  man's  business  was  such  as  to  leave  him  the  dis 
position  of  his  time,  that  of  a  journeyman  printer, 
for  instance,  it  was  not  possible  to  be  exactly  ob 
served  by  a  master,  who  must  mix  with  the  world, 
and  often  receive  people  of  business  at  their  own 
hours.  Order,  too,  with  regard  to  places  for  things, 
papers,  etc.,  I  found  extreamly  difficult  to  acquire. 
I  had  not  been  early  accustomed  to  it,  and,  having 
an  exceeding  good  memory,  I  was  not  so  sensible 
of  the  inconvenience  attending  want  of  method. 
This  article,  therefore,  cost  me  so  much  painful  at 
tention,  and  my  faults  in  it  vexed  me  so  much,  and  I 
made  so  little  progress  in  amendment,  and  had  such 
frequent  relapses,  that  I  was  almost  ready  to  give 
up  the  attempt,  and  content  myself  with  a  faulty 
character  in  that  respect,  like  the  man  who,  in  buy 
ing  an  ax  of  a  smith,  my  neighbour,  desired  to  have 
the  whole  of  its  surface  as  bright  as  the  edge.  The 
smith  consented  to  grind  it  bright  for  him  if  he 
would  turn  the  wheel ;  he  turn'd,  while  the  smith 
press'd  the  broad  face  of  the  ax  hard  and  heavily 
on  the  stone,  which  made  the  turning  of  it  very 
fatiguing.  The  man  came  every  now  and  then 
from  the  wheel  to  see  how  the  work  went  on,  and 
at  length  would  take  his  ax  as  it  wras,  without  far 
ther  grinding.  "No,"  said  the  smith,  "turn  on, 
turn  on  ;  we  shall  have  it  bright  by-and  by ;  as  yet, 
it  is  only  speckled."  "  Yes,"  says  the  man,  "  but  1 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  225 

think  /  like  a  speckled  ax  best"  And  I  believe  this 
may  have  been  the  case  with  many,  who,  having, 
for  want  of  some  such  means  as  I  employ'd,  found 
the  difficulty  of  obtaining  good  and  breaking  bad 
habits  in  other  points  of  vice  and  virtue,  have  given 
up  the  struggle,  and  concluded  that  "«  speckled 
ax  -was  best;"  for  something,  that  pretended  to  be 
reason,  was  every  now  and  then  suggesting  to  me 
that  such  extream  nicety  as  I  exacted  of  myself 
might  be  a  kind  of  foppery  in  morals,  which,  if  it 
were  known,  would  make  me  ridiculous ;  that  a 
perfect  character  might  be  attended  with  the  incon 
venience  of  being  envied  and  hated ;  and  that  a 
benevolent  man  should  allow  a  few  faults  in  himself, 
to  keep  his  friends  in  countenance. 

In  truth,  I  found  myself  incorrigible  with  respect 
to  Order ;  and  now  I  am  grown  old,  and  my  me 
mory  bad,  I  feel  very  sensibly  the  want  of  it.  But, 
on  the  whole,  tho'  I  never  arrived  at  the  perfection 
I  had  been  so  ambitious  of  obtaining,  but  fell  far 
short  of  it,  yet  I  was,  by  the  endeavour,  a  better  and 
a  happier  man  than  I  otherwise  should  have  been 
if  I  had  not  attempted  it ;  as  those  who  aim  at  per 
fect  writing  by  imitating  the  engraved  copies,  tho' 
they  never  reach  the  wish'd-for  excellence  of  those 
copies,  their  hand  is  mended  by  the  endeavor,  and 
is  tolerable  while  it  continues  fair  and  legible. 

It  may  be  well  my  posterity  should  be  informed 
that  to  this  little  artifice,  with  the  blessing  of  God, 
their  ancestor  ow'd  the  constant  felicity  of  his  life, 

K  * 


226  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

clown  to  his  7pth  year,*  in  which  this  is  written. 
What  reverses  may  attend  the  remainder  is  in  the 
hand  of  Providence  ;  but,  if  they  arrive,  the  reflec 
tion  on  past  happiness  enjoy'd  ought  to  help  his 
bearing  them  with  more  resignation.  To  Tempe 
rance  he  ascribes  his  long-continued  health,  and 
what  is  still  left  to  him  of  a  good  constitution ;  to 
Industry  and  Frugality,  the  early  easiness  of  his 
circumstances  and  acquisition  of  his  fortune,  with  all 
that  knowledge  that  enabled  him  to  be  a  useful  citi 
zen,  and  obtained  for  him  some  degree  of  reputation 
among  the  learned  ;  to  Sincerity  and  Justice,  the 
confidence  of  his  country,  and  the  honorable  em 
ploys  it  conferred  upon  him  ;  and  to  the  joint  influ 
ence  of  the  whole  mass  of  the  virtues,  even  in  the 
imperfect  state  he  was  able  to  acquire  them,  all  that 
evenness  of  temper,  and  that  cheerfulness  in  con 
versation,  which  makes  his  company  still  sought 
for,  and  agreeable  even  to  his  younger  acquaint 
ance.  I  hope,  therefore,  that  some  of  my  descend 
ants  may  follow  the  example  and  reap  the  benefit. 

It  will  be  remarked  that,  tho'  my  scheme  was  not 
wholly  without  religion,  there  was  in  it  no  mark  of 
any  of  the  distinguishing  tenets  of  any  particular 
sect.  I  had  purposely  avoided  them ;  for,  being 
fully  persuaded  of  the  utility  and  excellency  of  my 
method,  and  that  it  might  be  serviceable  to  people 
in  all  religions,  and  intending  some  time  or  other  to 


*  This  was  written,  therefore,  in  1785,  the  year  the  Doctor  returned 
from  Paris. — B. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  227 

publish  it,  I  would  not  have  any  thing  in  it  that 
should  prejudice  any  one,  of  any  sect,  against  it. 
I  purposed  writing  a  little  comment  on  each  virtue, 
in  which  I  would  have  shown  the  advantages  of 
possessing  it,  and  the  mischiefs  attending  its  oppo 
site  vice  ;  and  I  should  have  called  my  book  THE 
ART  OF  VIRTUE,*  because  it  would  have  shown  the 
means  and  manner  of  obtaining  virtue,  which  would 
have  distinguished  it  from  the  mere  exhortation  to 
be  good,  that  does  not  instruct  and  indicate  the 
means,  but  is  like  the  apostle's  man  of  verbal 
chanty,  who  only  without  showing  to  the  naked 
and  hungry  how  or  where  they  might  get  clothes  or 
victuals,  exhorted  them  to  be  fed  and  clothed. — 
James  ii.  15,  16. 

But  it  so  happened  that  my  intention  of  writing 
and  publishing  this  comment  was  never  fulfilled.  I 
did,  indeed,  from  time  to  time,  put  down  short  hints 
of  the  sentiments,  reasonings,  etc.,  to  be  made  use 
of  in  it,  some  of  which  I  have  still  by  me ;  but  the 
necessary  close  attention  to  private  business  in  the 
earlier  part  of  my  life,  and  public  business  since,  have 
occasioned  my  postponing  it  ;  for,  it  being  con 
nected  in  my  mind  with  a  great  and  extensive  pro 
ject,  that  required  the  whole  man  to  execute,  and 
which  an  unforeseen  succession  of  employs  pre 
vented  my  attending  to,  it  has  hitherto  remain'd 
untinish'd. 


*  Nothing  so  likely  to  make  a  man's  fortune  as  virtue. — Marg.  note. 


228  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

In  this  piece  it  was  my  design  to  explain  and 
enforce  this  doctrine,  that  vicious  actions  are  not 
hurtful  because  they  are  forbidden,  but  forbidden 
because  they  are  hurtful,  the  nature  of  man  alone 
considered ;  that  it  was,  therefore,  every  one's  in 
terest  to  be  virtuous  who  wish'd  to  be  happy  even 
in  this  world  ;  and  I  should,  from  this  circumstance 
(there  being  always  in  the  world  a  number  of  rich 
merchants,  nobility,  states,  and  princes,  who  have 
need  of  honest  instruments  for  the  management  of 
their  affairs,  and  such  being  so  rare),  have  endea 
vored  to  convince  young  persons  that  no  qualities 
were  so  likely  to  make  a  poor  man's  fortune  as  those 
of  probity  and  integrity. 

My  list  of  virtues  contain'd  at  first  but  twelve  ; 
but  a  Quaker  friend  having  kindly  informed  me  that 
I  was  generally  thought  proud ;  that  my  pride 
show'd  itself  frequently  in  conversation  ;  that  I  was 
not  content  with  being  in  the  right  when  discussing 
any  point,  but  was  overbearing,  and  rather  insolent, 
of  which  he  convinc'd  me  by  mentioning  several 
instances  ;  I  determined  endeavouring  to  cure  myself, 
if  I  could,  of  this  vice  or  folly  among  the  rest,  and 
I  added  Humility  to  my  list,  giving  an  extensive 
meaning  to  the  word. 

I  cannot  boast  of  much  success  in  acquiring  the 
reality  of  this  virtue,  but  I  had  a  good  deal  with 
regard  to  the  appearance  of  it.  I  made  it  a  rule  to 
forbear  all  direct  contradiction  to  the  sentiments  of 
others,  and  all  positive  assertion  of  my  own.  I  even 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  229 

forbid  myself,  agreeably  to  the  old  laws  of  our  «. 
Junto,  the  use  of  every  word  or  expression  in  the  \ 
language  that  imported  a  fix'd  opinion,  such  as  / 
certainly,  undoubtedly  ^  etc.,  and  I  adopted,  instead 
of  them,  /  conceive,  I  apprehend,  or  I  imagine  a 
thing  to  be  so  or  so ;  or  it  so  appears  to  me  at  pre 
sent.  When  another  asserted  something  that  I 
thought  an  error,  I  deny'd  myself  the  pleasure  of 
contradicting  him  abruptly,  and  of  showing  imme 
diately  some  absurdity  in  his  proposition ;  and  in 
answering  I  began  by  observing  that  in  certain  cases 
or  circumstances  his  opinion  would  be  right,  but  in 
the  present  case  there  appeared  or  seem'd  to  me 
some  difference,  etc.  I  soon  found  the  advantage 
of  this  change  in  my  manner ;  the  conversations  I 
engag'd  in  went  on  more  pleasantly.  The  modest 
way  in  which  I  propos'd  my  opinions  procur'd  them 
a  readier  reception  and  less  contradiction  ;  I  had 
less  mortification  when  I  was  found  to  be  in  the 
wrong,  and  I  more  easily  prevail'd  with  others  to 
give  up  their  mistakes  and  join  with  me  when  I 
happened  to  be  in  the  right. 

And  this  mode,  which  I  at  first  put  on  with  some 
violence  to  natural  inclination,  became  at  length  so 
easy,  and  so  habitual  to  me,  that  perhaps  for  these 
fifty  years  past.no  one  has  ever  heard  a  dogmatical 
expression  escape  me.  And  to  this  habit  (after  my 
character  of  integrity)  I  think  it  principally  owing 
that  I  had  early  so  much  weight  with  my  fellow- 
citizens  when  I  proposed  new  institutions,  or  altera- 

20 


230  A  UTOBIO  GRA  PH  T. 

tions  in  the  old,  and  so  much  influence  in  public 
councils  when  I  became  a  member ;  for  I  was  but  a 
bad  speaker,  never  eloquent,  subject  to  much  hesi 
tation  in  my  choice  of  words,  hardly  correct  in  lan 
guage,  and  yet  I  generally  carried  my  points. 

In  reality,  there  is,  perhaps,  no  one  of  our  natural 
passions  so  hard  to  subdue  as  pride.  Disguise  it, 
struggle  with  it,  beat  it  down,  stifle  it,  mortify  it  as 
much  as  one  pleases,  it  is  still  alive,  and  will  every 
now  and  then  peep  out  and  show  itself;  you  will  see 
it,  perhaps,  often  in  this  history  ;  for,  even  if  I  could 
conceive  that  I  had  compleatly  overcome  it,  I  should 
probably  be  proud  of  my  humility. 

[Thus  far  written  at  Passy,  1784.] 


["  I  am  now  about  to  write  at  home,  August, 
1788,  but  can  not  have  the  help  expected  from 
my  papers,  many  of  them  being  lost  in  the  war. 
I  have,  however,  found  the  following •."]  * 

HAVING  mentioned  a  great  and  extensive 
project  which  I  had  conceiv'd,  it  seems  pro 
per  that  some  account  should  be  here  given  of  that 
project  and  its  object.  Its  first  rise  in  my  mind  ap 
pears  in  the  following  little  paper,  accidentally  pre- 
serv'd,  viz.  : 

Observations  on  my  reading  history,  in  Library, 
May  i  pth,  1731. 

"  That  the  great  affairs  of  the  world,  the  wars, 
revolutions,  etc.,  are  carried  on  and  effected  by 
parties. 

*  This  is  a  marginal  memorandum. — B. 

231 


232  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

"That  the  view  of  these  parties  is  their  present 
general  interest,  or  what  they  take  to  be  such. 

"  That  the  different  views  of  these  different  par 
ties  occasion  all  confusion. 

"That  while  a  party  is  carrying  on  a  general 
design,  each  man  has  his  particular  private  interest 
in  view. 

"  That  as  soon  as  a  party  has  gain'd  its  general 
point,  each  member  becomes  intent  upon  his  par 
ticular  interest ;  which,  thwarting  others,  breaks 
that  party  into  divisions,  and  occasions  more  con 
fusion. 

"  That  few  in  public  affairs  act  from  a  meer  view 
of  the  good  of  their  country,  whatever  they  may 
pretend  ;  and,  tho'  their  actings  bring  real  good  to 
their  country,  yet  men  primarily  considered  that 
their  own  and  their  country's  interest  was  united, 
and  did  not  act  from  a  principle  of  benevolence. 

"That  fewer  still,  in  public  affairs,  act  with  a 
view  to  the  good  of  mankind. 

"  There  seems  to  me  at  present  to  be  great  occa 
sion  for  raising  a  United  Party  for  Virtue,  by  form 
ing  the  virtuous  and  good  men  of  all  nations  into  a 
regular  body,  to  be  govern'd  by  suitable  good  and 
wise  rules,  which  good  and  wise  men  may  probably 
be  more  unanimous  in  their  obedience  to,  than  com 
mon  people  are  to  common  laws. 

"I  at  present  think  that  whoever  attempts  this 
aright,  and  is  well  qualified,  can  not  fail  of  pleasing 
God,  and  of  meeting  with  success.  B.  F." 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  233 

Revolving  this  project  in  my  mind,  as  to  be  under 
taken  hereafter,  when  my  circumstances  should 
afford  me  the  necessary  leisure,  I  put  down  from 
time  to  time,  on  pieces  of  paper,  such  thoughts  as 
occurr'd  to  me  respecting  it.  Most  of  these  are 
lost ;  but  I  find  one  purporting  to  be  the  substance 
of  an  intended  creed,  containing,  as  I  thought,  the 
essentials  of  every  known  religion,  and  being  free 
of  every  thing  that  might  shock  the  professors  of 
any  religion.  It  is  express'd  in  these  words,  viz.  : 

"  That  there  is  one  God,  who  made  all  things. 

"  That  he  governs  the  world  by  his  providence. 

"  That  he  ought  to  be  worshiped  by  adoration, 
prayer,  and  thanksgiving. 

"  But  that  the  most  acceptable  service  of  God  is 
doing  good  to  man. 

"  That  the  soul  is  immortal. 

"  And  that  God  will  certainly  reward  virtue  and 
punish  vice,  either  here  or  hereafter."* 

My  ideas  at  that  time  were,  that  the  sect  should 
be  begun  and  spread  at  first  among  young  and  single 
men  only  ;  that  each  person  to  be  initiated  should 
not  only  declare  his  assent  to  such  creed,  but  should 
have  exercised  himself  with  the  thirteen  weeks'  ex 
amination  and  practice  of  the  virtues,  as  in  the  be- 
fore-mention'd  model ;  that  the  existence  of  such  a 
society  should  be  kept  a  secret,  till  it  was  become 


*  In  the  Middle  Ages,  Franklin,  if  such  a  phenomenon  as  Franklin 
were  possible  in  the  Middle  Ages,  would  probably  have  been  the  founder 
of  a  monastic  order. 
20  * 


234  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

considerable,  to  prevent  solicitations  for  the  admis 
sion  of  improper  persons,  but  that  the  members 
should  each  of  them  search  among  his  acquaintance 
for  ingenuous,  well-disposed  youths,  to  whom,  with 
prudent  caution,  the  scheme  should  be  gradually 
communicated  ;  that  the  members  should  engage  to 
afford  their  advice,  assistance,  and  support  to  each 
other  in  promoting  one  another's  interests,  business, 
and  advancement  in  life ;  that,  for  distinction,  we 
should  be  call'd  The  Society  of  the  Free  and  Easy: 
free,  as  being,  by  the  general  practice  and  habit 
of  the  virtues,  free  from  the  dominion  of  vice  ;  and 
particularly  by  the  practice  of  industry  and  frugality, 
free  from  debt,  which  exposes  a  man  to  confinement, 
and  a  species  of  slavery  to  his  creditors. 

This  is  as  much  as  I  can  now  recollect  of  the 
project,  except  that  I  communicated  it  in  part  to  two 
young  men,  who  adopted  it  with  some  enthusiasm  ; 
but  my  then  narrow  circumstances,  and  the  neces 
sity  I  was  under  of  sticking  close  to  my  business, 
occasion'd  my  postponing  the  further  prosecution 
of  it  at  that  time  ;  and  my  multifarious  occupations, 
public  and  private,  induc'd  me  to  continue  postpon 
ing,  so  that  it  has  been  omitted  till  I  have  no  longer 
strength  or  activity  left  sufficient  for  such  an  enter 
prise  ;  tho'  I  am  still  of  opinion  that  it  was  a  practi 
cable  scheme,  and  might  have  been  very  useful,  by 
forming  a  great  number  of  good  citizens  ;  and  I  was 
not  discourag'd  by  the  seeming  magnitude  of  the 
undertaking,  as  I  have  always  thought  that  one 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  235 

man  of  tolerable  abilities  may  work  great  changes, 
and  accomplish  great  affairs  among  mankind,  if  he 
first  forms  a  good  plan,  and,  cutting  off  all  amuse 
ments  or  other  employments  that  would  divert  his 
attention,  makes  the  execution  of  that  same  plan  his 
sole  study  and  business. 

In  1732  I  first  publish'd  my  Almanack,  under  the 
name  of  Richard  Saunders;  it  was  continu'd  by 
me  about  twenty-five  years,  commonly  call'd  Poor 
Richard's  Almanac.  I  endeavor'd  to  make  it  both 
entertaining  and  useful,  and  it  accordingly  came  to 
be  in  such  demand,  that  I  reap'd  considerable  profit 
from  it,  vending  annually  near  ten  thousand.*  And 
observing  that  it  was  generally  read,  scarce  any 


*  The  advertisement  to  the  first  number  of  this  the  most  celebrated 
of  Almanacs  was  printed  in  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  on  the  iQth  of 
December,  1732.  Though  appearing  thus  late  in  the  season,  three 
editions  of  No.  i  were  sold  before  the  end  of  January.  The  advertise 
ment  ran  as  follows  : 

"Just  published,  for  1733,  An  Almanack,  containing  the  Lunations, 
Eclipses,  Planets'  Motions  and  Aspects,  Weather,  Sun  and  Moon's 
Rising  and  Setting,  High  Water,  etc.  ;  besides  many  pleasant  and  witty 
Verses,  Jests,  and  Sayings  ;  Author's  Motive  of  Writing  ;  Prediction  of 
the  Death  of  his  Friend,  Mr.  Titan  Leeds  ;  Moon  no  Cukold ;  Bachelor's 
Folly  ;  Parson's  Wine  and  Baker's  Pudding  ;  Short  Visits  :  Kings  and 
Bears  ;  New  Fashions  ;  Game  for  Kisses  ;  Katherine's  Love  ;  Different 
Sentiments  ;  Signs  of  a  Tempest ;  Death  of  a  Fisherman  ;  Conjugal  De 
bate  ;  Men  and  Melons  ;  The  Prodigal ;  Breakfast  in  Bed  ;  Oyster  Law 
suit,  etc.  By  Richard  Saunders,  Philomat.  Printed  and  Sold  by  B. 
Franklin." 

I  believe  there  is  no  complete  collection  of  this  Almanac  in  exist 
ence.  The  most  complete  one  that  I  have  any  knowledge  of  was  made 

by  Mr. ,  for  some  years  the  publisher  of  a  New  York  Directory. 

At  his  death,  however,  the  collection,  I  am  told,  became  dispersed. — B. 


236  AUTOBIOGRAPIIT  OF 

neighborhood  in  the  province  being  without  it,  I 
considered  it  as  a  proper  vehicle  for  conveying  in 
struction  among  the  common  people,  who  bought 
scarcely  any  other  books ;  I  therefore  filled  all  the 
little  spaces  that  occurr'd  between  the  remarkable 
days  in  the  calendar  with  proverbial  sentences, 
chiefly  such  as  inculcated  industry  and  frugality,  as 
the  means  of  procuring  wealth,  and  thereby  securing 
virtue ;  it  being  more  difficult  for  a  man  in  want,  to 
act  always  honestly,  as,  to  use  here  one  of  those 
proverbs,  it  is  hard  for  an  cnifty  sack  to  stand  up 
right. 

These  proverbs,  which  contained  the  wisdom  of 
many  ages  and  nations,  I  assembled  and  form'd  into 
a  connected  discourse  prefix'd  to  the  Almanack  of 
1757,  as  the  harangue  of  a  wise  old  man  to  the 
people  attending  an  auction.  The  bringing  all 
these  scatter'd  counsels  thus  into  a  focus  enabled 
them  to  make  greater  impression.  The  piece,  being 
universally  approved,  was  copied  in  all  the  news 
papers  of  the  Continent ;  reprinted  in  Britain  on  a 
broad  side,  to  be  stuck  up  in  houses ;  two  transla 
tions  were  made  of  it  in  French,  and  great  numbers 
bought  by  the  clergy  and  gentry,  to  distribute  gratis 
among  their  poor  parishioners  and  tenants.  In 
Pennsylvania,  as  it  discouraged  useless  expense  in 
foreign  superfluities,  some  thought  it  had  its  share 
of  influence  in  producing  that  growing  plenty  of 
money  which  was  observable  for  several  years  after 
its  publication. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  237 

I  considered  my  newspaper,  also,  as  another 
means  of  communicating  instruction,  and  in  that 
view  frequently  reprinted  in  it  extracts  from  the 
Spectator,  and  other  moral  writers  ;  and  sometimes 
publish'd  little  pieces  of  my  own,  which  had  been 
first  compos'd  for  reading  in  our  Junto.  Of  these 
are  a  Socratic  dialogue,  tending  to  prove  that,  what 
ever  might  be  his  parts  and  abilities,  a  vicious  man 
could  not  properly  be  called  a  man  of  sense ;  and  a 
discourse  on  self-denial,  showing  that  virtue  was 
not  secure  till  its  practice  became  a  habitude,  and 
was  free  from  the  opposition  of  contrary  inclinations. 
These  may  be  found  in  the  papers  about  the  begin 
ning  of  1735. 

In  the  conduct  of  my  newspaper,  I  carefully  ex 
cluded  all  libelling  and  personal  abuse,  which  is  of 
late  years  become  so  disgraceful  to  our  country. 
Whenever  I  was  solicited  to  insert  any  thing  of  that 
kind,  and  the  writers  pleaded,  as  they  generally  did, 
the  liberty  of  the  press,  and  that  a  newspaper  was 
like  a  stage-coach,  in  which  any  one  who  would  pay 
had  a  right  to  a  place,  my  answer  was,  that  I  would 
print  the  piece  separately  if  desired,  and  the  author 
might  have  as  many  copies  as  he  pleased  to  distri 
bute  himself,  but  that  I  would  not  take  upon  me  to 
spread  his  detraction ;  and  that,  having  contracted 
with  my  subscribers  to  furnish  them  with  what  might 
be  either  useful  or  entertaining,  I  could  not  fill  their 
papers  with  private  altercation,  in  which  they  had 
no  concern,  without  doing  them  manifest  injustice. 


238  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

Now,  many  of  our  printers  make  no  scruple  of  grati 
fying  the  malice  of  individuals  by  false  accusations 
of  the  fairest  characters  among  ourselves,  augment 
ing  animosity  even  to  the  producing  of  duels ;  and 
are,  moreover,  so  indiscreet  as  to  print  scurrilous 
reflections  on  the  government  of  neighboring  states, 
and  even  on  the  conduct  of  our  best  national  allies, 
which  may  be  attended  with  the  most  pernicious 
consequences.  These  things  I  mention  as  a  caution 
to  young  printers,  and  that  they  may  be  encouraged 
not  to  pollute  their  presses  and  disgrace  their  pro 
fession  by  such  infamous  practices,  but  refuse  stead 
ily,  as  they  may  see  by  my  example  that  such  a 
course  of  conduct  will  not,  on  the  whole,  be  injurious 
to  their  interests. 

In  1733  I  sent  one  of  my  journeymen  to  Charles 
ton,  South  Carolina,  where  a  printer  was  wanting. 
I  furnish'd  him  with  a  press  and  letters,  on  an  agree 
ment  of  partnership,  by  which  I  was  to  receive  one- 
third  of  the  profits  of  the  business,  paying  one-third 
of  the  expense.  He  was  a  man  of  learning,  and 
honest  but  ignorant  in  matters  of  account;  and,  tho' 
he  sometimes  made  me  remittances,  I  could  get  no 
account  from  him,  nor  any  satisfactory  state  of  our 
partnership  while  he  lived.  On  his  decease,  the 
business  was  continued  by  his  widow,  who,  being 
born  and  bred  in  Holland,  where,  as  I  have  been 
inform'd,  the  knowledge  of  accounts  makes  a  part 
of  female  education,  she  not  only  sent  me  as  clear  a 
state  as  she  could  find  of  the  transactions  past,  but 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  239 

continued  to  account  with  the  greatest  regularity 
and  exactness  every  quarter  afterwards,  and  managed 
the  business  with  such  success,  that  she  not  only 
brought  up  reputably  a  family  of  children,  but,  at 
the  expiration  of  the  term,  was  able  to  purchase  of 
me  the  printing-house,  and  establish  her  son  in  it. 

I  mention  this  affair  chiefly  for  the  sake  of  recom 
mending  that  branch  of  education  for  our  young 
females,  as  likely  to  be  of  more  use  to  them  and 
their  children,  in  case  of  widowhood,  than  either 
music  or  dancing,  by  preserving  them  from  losses 
by  imposition  of  crafty  men,  and  enabling  them  to 
continue,  perhaps,  a  profitable  mercantile  house, 
with  establish'd  correspondence,  till  a  son  is  grown 
up  fit  to  undertake  and  go  on  with  it,  to  the  lasting 
advantage  and  enriching  of  the  family. 

About  the  year  1734  there  arrived  among^us  from 
Ireland  a  young  Presbyterian  preacher,  named 
Hemphill,  who  delivered  with  a  good  voice,  and 
apparently  extempore,  most  excellent  discourses, 
which  drew  together  considerable  numbers  of  dif 
ferent  persuasions,  who  join'd  in  admiring  them. 
Among  the  rest,  I  became  one  of  his  constant 
hearers,  his  sermons  pleasing  me,  as  they  had  little 
of  the  dogmatical  kind,  but  inculcated  strongly  the 
practice  of  virtue,  or  what  in  the  religious  stile  are 
called  good  works.  Those,  however,  of  our  con 
gregation,  who  considered  themselves  as  orthodox 
Presbyterians,  disapproved  his  doctrine,  and  were 
join'd  by  most  of  the  old  clergy,  who  arraign'd 


240  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

him  of  heterodoxy  before  the  synod,  in  order  to 
have  him  silenc'd.  I  became  his  zealous  partisan, 
and  contributed  all  I  could  to  raise  a  party  in  his 
favour,  and  we  combated  for  him  a  while  with  some 
hopes  of  success.  There  was  much  scribbling  pro 
and  con  upon  the  occasion ;  and  finding  that,  tho' 
an  elegant  preacher,  he  was  but  a  poor  writer,  I 
lent  him  my  pen  and  wrrote  for  him  two  or  three 
pamphlets,  and  one  piece  in  the  Gazette  of  April, 
J735'  Those  pamphlets,  as  is  generally  the  case 
with  controversial  writings,  tho'  eagerly  read  at  the 
time,  were  soon  out  of  vogue,  and  I  question  whe 
ther  a  single  copy  of  them  now  exists. 

During  the  contest  an  unlucky  occurrence  hurt 
his  cause  exceedingly.  One  of  our  adversaries 
having  heard  him  preach  a  sermon  that  was  much 
admired,  thought  he  had  somewhere  read  the  sermon 
before,  or  at  least  a  part  of  it.  On  search,  he  found 
that  part  quoted  at  length,  in  one  of  the  British 
Reviews,  from  a  discourse  of  Dr.  Foster's.  This 
detection  gave  many  of  our  party  disgust,  who 
accordingly  abandoned  his  cause,  and  occasion'd 
our  more  speedy  discomfiture  in  the  synod.  I  stuck 
by  him,  however,  as  I  rather  approv'd  his  giving  us 
good  sermons  compos'd  by  others,  than  bad  ones  of 
his  own  manufacture,  tho'  the  latter  was  the  practice 
of  our  common  teachers.  He  afterward  acknow- 
ledg'd  to  me  that  none  of  those  he  preach'd  were  his 
own  ;  adding,  that  his  memory  was  such  as  enabled 
him  to  retain  and  repeat  any  sermon  after  one  read- 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  241 

ing  only.  On  our  defeat,  he  left  us  in  search  else 
where  of  better  fortune,  and  I  quitted  the  congrega 
tion,  never  joining  it  after,  tho'  I  continu'd  many 
years  my  subscription  for  the  support  of  its  min 
isters. 

I  had  begun  in  1733  to  study  languages;  I  soon 
made  myself  so  much  a  master  of  the  French  as  to 
be  able  to  read  the  books  with  ease.  I  then  under 
took  the  Italian.  An  acquaintance,  who  was  also 
learning  it,  us'd  often  to  tempt  me  to  play  chess  with 
him.  Finding  this  took  up  too  much  of  the  time  I 
had  to  spare  for  study,  I  at  length  refus'd  to  play 
any  more,  unless  on  this  condition,  that  the  victor 
in  every  game  should  have  a  right  to  impose  a  task, 
either  in  parts  of  the  grammar  to  be  got  by  heart, 
or  in  translations,  etc.,  which  tasks  the  vanquish'd 
was  to  perform  upon  honour,  before  our  next  meet 
ing.  As  we  play'd  pretty  equally,  we  thus  beat  one 
another  into  that  language.  I  afterwards  with  a 
little  painstaking,  acquir'd  as  much  of  the  Spanish 
as  to  read  their  books  also. 

I  have  already  mention'd  that  I  had  only  one 
year's  instruction  in  a  Latin  school,  and  that  when 
very  young,  after  which  I  neglected  that  language 
entirely.  But,  when  I  had  attained  an  acquaintance 
with  the  French,  Italian,  and  Spanish,  I  was  sur- 
priz'd  to  find,  on  looking  over  a  Latin  Testament, 
that  I  understood  so  much  more  of  that  language 
than  I  had  imagined,  which  encouraged  me  to  apply 
myself  again  to  the  study  of  it,  and  I  met  with  more 
21  L 


242  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

success,  as  those  preceding  languages  had  greatly 
smooth'd  my  way. 

From  these  circumstances,  I  have  thought  that 
there  is  some  inconsistency  in  our  common  mode  of 
teaching  languages.  We  are  told  that  it  is  proper 
to  begin  first  with  the  Latin,  and,  having  acquir'd 
that,  it  will  be  more  easy  to  attain  those  modern 
languages  which  are  deriv'd  from  it ;  and  yet  we  do 
not  begin  with  the  Greek,  in  order  more  easily  to 
acquire  the  Latin.  It  is  true  that,  if  you  can  clamber 
and  get  to  the  top  of  a  staircase  without  using  the 
steps,  you  will  more  easily  gain  them  in  descending  ; 
but  certainly,  if  you  begin  with  the  lowest  you  will 
with  more  ease  ascend  to  the  top ;  and  I  would 
therefore  offer  it  to  the  consideration  of  those  who 
superintend  the  education  of  our  youth,  whether, 
since  many  of  those  who  begin  with  the  Latin  quit 
the  same  after  spending  some  years  without  hav 
ing  made  any  great  proficiency,  and  what  they 
have  learnt  becomes  almost  useless,  so  that  their 
time  has  been  lost,  it  would  not  have  been  better 
to  have  begun  with  the  French,  proceeding  to  the 
Italian,  etc.  ;  for,  tho',  after  spending  the  same  time, 
they  should  quit  the  study  of  languages  and  never 
arrive  at  the  Latin,  they  would,  however,  have 
acquired  another  tongue  or  two,  that,  being  in 
modern  use,  might  be  serviceable  to  them  in  com 
mon  life.* 


*  It  may  be  doubted  whether  any  thing  more  wise  than  this  has  been 
written  upon  the  much-vexed  question  to  which  it  relates.      The  au- 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  243 

After  ten  years'  absence  from  Boston,  and  having 
become  easy  in  my  circumstances,  I  made  a  journey 
thither  to  visit  my  relations,  which  I  could  not  sooner 
well  afford.  In  returning,  I  call'd  at  Newport  to 
see  my  brother,  then  settled  there  with  his  printing- 
house.  Our  former  differences  were  forgotten,  and 
our  meeting  was  very  cordial  and  affectionate.  He 
was  fast  declining  in  his  health,  and  requested  of  me 
that,  in  case  of  his  death,  which  he  apprehended 
not  far  distant,  I  would  take  home  his  son,  then  but 


thority  of  Franklin,  the  most  eminently  practical  man  of  his  age,  in  favor 
of  reserving  the  study  of  the  dead  languages  until  the  mind  has  reached 
a  certain  maturity,  is  confirmed  by  the  confession  of  one  of  the  most 
eminent  scholars  of  any  age. 

"  Our  seminaries  of  learning,"  says  Gibbon,  "  do  not  exactly  correspond 
with  the  precept  of  a  Spartan  king,  '  that  the  child  should  be  instructed  in 
the  arts  which  will  be  useful  to  the  man  ;'  since  a  finished  scholar  may 
emerge  from  the  head  of  Westminster  or  Eton,  in  total  ignorance  of  the 
business  and  conversation  of  English  gentlemen  in  the  latter  end  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  But  these  schools  may  assume  the  merit  of 
teaching  all  that  they  pretend  to  teach,  the  Latin  and  Greek  languages  : 
they  deposit  in  the  hands  of  a  disciple  the  keys  of  two  valuable  chests ; 
nor  can  he  complain,  if  they  are  afterwards  lost  or  neglected  by  his 
own  fault.  The  necessity  of  leading  in  equal  ranks  so  many  unequal 
powers  of  capacity  and  application,  will  prolong  to  eight  or  ten  years 
the  juvenile  studies,  which  might  be  despatched  in  half  that  time  by  the 
skilful  master  of  a  single  pupil.  Yet  even  the  repetition  of  exercise 
and  discipline  contributes  to  fix  in  a  vacant  mind  the  verbal  science  of 
grammar  and  prosody:  and  the  private  or  voluntary  student,  who 
possesses  the  sense  and  spirit  of  the  classics,  may  offend,  by  a  false 
quantity,  the  scrupulous  ear  of  a  well-flogged  critic.  For  myself,  I  must 
be  content  with  a  very  small  share  of  the  civil  and  literary  fruits  of  a 
public  school.  In  the  space  of  two  years  (1749,  1750),  interrupted  by 
danger  and  debility,  I  painfully  climbed  into  the  third  form ;  and  my 
riper  age  was  left  to  acquire  the  beauties  of  the  Latin  and  the  rudiments 
of  the  Greek  tongue." — B. 


244  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

ten  years  of  age,  and  bring  him  up  to  the  printing 
business.  This  I  accordingly  perform'd,  sending 
him  a  few  years  to  school  before  I  took  him  into  the 
office.  His  mother  carried  on  the  business  till  he 
was  grown  up,  when  I  assisted  him  with  an  assort 
ment  of  new  types,  those  of  his  father  being  in  a 
manner  worn  out.  Thus  it  was  that  I  made  my 
brother  ample  amends  for  the  service  I  had  depriv'd 
him  of  by  leaving  him  so  early. 

In  1736  I  lost  one  of  my  sons,  a  fine  boy  of  four 
years  old,  by  the  small-pox,  taken  in  the  common 
way.  I  long  regretted  bitterly,  and  -  still  regret 
that  I  had  not  given  it  to  him  by  inoculation.  This 
I  mention  for  the  sake  of  parents  who  omit  that 
operation,  on  the  supposition  that  they  should  never 
forgive  themselves  if  a  child  died  under  it ;  my  ex 
ample  showing  that  the  regret  may  be  the  same 
either  way,  and  that,  therefore,  the  safer  should  be 
chosen. 

Our  club,  the  Junto,  was  found  so  useful,  and 
afforded  such  satisfaction  to  the  members,  that  se 
veral  were  desirous  of  introducing  their  friends, 
which  could  not  well  be  done  without  exceeding 
what  we  had  settled  as  a  convenient  number,  viz., 
twelve.  We  had  from  the  beginning  made  it  a  rule 
to  keep  our  institution  a  secret,  which  was  pretty 
well  observ'd ;  the  intention  was  to  avoid  applica 
tions  of  improper  persons  for  admittance,  some  of 
whom,  perhaps,  we  might  find  it  difficult  to  refuse. 
I  was  one  of  those  who  were  against  any  addition 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  245 

to  our  number,  but,  instead  of  it,  made  in  writing  a 
proposal,  that  every  member  separately  should  en 
deavor  to  form  a  subordinate  club,  with  the  same 
rules  respecting  queries,  etc.,  and  without  informing 
them  of  the  connection  with  the  Junto.  The  advan 
tages  proposed  were,  the  improvement  of  so  many 
more  young  citizens  by  the  use  of  our  institutions ; 
our  better  acquaintance  with  the  general  sentiments 
of  the  inhabitants  on  any  occasion,  as  the  Junto 
member  might  propose  what  queries  we  should  de 
sire,  and  was  to  report  to  the  Junto  what  pass'd  in 
his  separate  club ;  the  promotion  of  our  particular 
interests  in  business  by  more  extensive  recommen 
dation,  and  the  increase  of  our  influence  in  public 
affairs,  and  our  power  of  doing  good  by  spreading 
thro'  the  several  clubs  the  sentiments  of  the  Junto. 

The  project  was  approv'd,  and  every  member 
undertook  to  form  his  club,  but  they  did  not  all  suc 
ceed.  Five  or  six  only  were  compleated,  which 
were  called  by  different  names,  as  the  Vine,  the 
Union,  the  Band,  etc.  They  were  useful  to  them 
selves,  and  afforded  us  a  good  deal  of  amusement, 
information,  and  instruction,  besides  answering,  in 
some  considerable  degree,  our  views  of  influencing 
the  public  opinion  on  particular  occasions,  of  which 
I  shall  give  some  instances  in  course  of  time  as 
they  happened. 

My  first  promotion  was  my  being  chosen,  in  1736, 
clerk  of  the  General  Assembly.  The  choice  was 
made  that  year  without  opposition ;  but  the  year 
21* 


246  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

following,  when  I  was  again  propos'd  (the  choice, 
like  that  of  the  members,  being  annual),  a  new 
member  made  a  long  speech  against  me,  in  order  to 
favour  some  other  candidate.  I  was,  however; 
chosen,  which  was  the  more  agreeable  to  me,  as, 
besides  the  pay  for  the  immediate  service  as  clerk, 
the  place  gave  me  a  better  opportunity  of  keeping 
up  an  interest  among  the  members,  which  secur'd 
to  me  the  business  of  printing  the  votes,  laws,  paper 
money,  and  other  occasional  jobbs  for  the  public, 
that,  on  the  whole,  were  very  profitable. 

I  therefore  did  not  like  the  opposition  of  this  new 
member,  who  was  a  gentleman  of  fortune  and  edu 
cation,  with  talents  that  were  likely  to  give  him,  in 
time,  great  influence  in  the  House,  which,  indeed, 
afterwards  happened.  I  did  not,  however,  aim  at 
gaining  his  favour  by  paying  any  servile  respect  to 
him,  but,  after  some  time,  took  this  other  method. 
Having  heard  that  he  had  in  his  library  a  certain 
very  scarce  and  curious  book,  I  wrote  a  note  to  him, 
expressing  my  desire  of  perusing  that  book,  and 
requesting  he  would  do  me  the  favour  of  lending 
it  to  me  for  a  few  days.  He  sent  it  immediately, 
and  I  return'd  it  in  about  a  week  with  another  note, 
expressing  strongly  my  sense  of  the  favour.  When 
we  next  met  in  the  House,  he  spoke  to  me  (which 
he  had  never  done  before),  and  with  great  civility; 
and  he  ever  after  manifested  a  readiness  to  serve 
me  on  all  occasions,  so  that  we  became  great 
friends,  and  our  friendship  continued  to  his  death. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  247 

This  is  another  instance  of  the  truth  of  an  old  maxim 
I  had  learned,  which  says,  "He  that  has  once  done 
you  a  kindness  will  be  more  ready  to  do  you  an- 
qthcr,  than  he  whom  you  yourself  have  obliged" 
And  it  shows  how  much  more  profitable  it  is  pru- 
flently  to  remove,  than  to  resent,  return,  and  con 
tinue  inimical  proceedings. 

I  In  1737,  Colonel  Spotswood,  late  governor  of 
Virginia,  and  then  postmaster-general,  being  dis 
satisfied  with  the  conduct  of  his  deputy  at  Philadel 
phia,  respecting  some  negligence  in  rendering,  and 
inexactitude  of  his  accounts,  took  from  him  the 
commission  and  offered  it  to  me.  I  accepted  it 
readily,  and  found  it  of  great  advantage ;  for,  tho' 
the  salary  was  small,  it  facilitated  the  correspond 
ence  that  improv'd  my  newspaper,  increas'd  the 
number  demanded,  as  well  as  the  advertisements  to 
be  inserted,  so  that  it  came  to  afford  me  a  consider 
able  income.  My  old  competitor's  newspaper  de- 
clin'd  proportionably,  and  I  was  satisfy 'd  without 
retaliating  his  refusal,  while  postmaster,  to  permit 
my  papers  being  carried  by  the  riders.  Thus  he 
suffer'd  greatly  from  his  neglect  in  due  accounting ; 
and  I  mention  it  as  a  lesson  to  those  young  men  who 
may  be  employ'd  in  managing  affairs  for  others, 
that  they  should  always  render  accounts,  and  make 
remittances,  with  great  clearness  and  punctuality. 
The  character  of  observing  such  a  conduct  is  the 
most  powerful  of  all  recommendations  to  new  em 
ployments  and  increase  of  business. 


248  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

I  began  now  to  turn  my  thoughts  a  little  to  public 
affairs,  beginning,  however,  with  small  matters. 
The  city  watch  was  one  of  the  first  things  that  I 
conceiv'd  to  want  regulation.  It  was  managed  by 
the  constables  of  the  respective  wards  in  turn  ;  the 
constable  warned  a  number  of  housekeepers  to  at 
tend  him  for  the  night.  Those  who  chose  never  to 
attend,  paid  him  six  shillings  a  year  to  be  excus'd, 
which  was  suppos'd  to  be  for  hiring  substitutes,  but 
was,  in  reality,  much  more  than  was  necessary  for 
that  purpose,  and  made  the  constableship  a  place  of 
profit;  and  the  constable,  for  a  little  drink,  often  got 
such  ragamuffins  about  him  as  a  watch,  that  respect 
able  housekeepers  did  not  choose  to  mix  with. 
Walking  the  rounds,  too,  was  often  neglected,  and 
most  of  the  nights  spent  in  tippling.  I  thereupon 
wrote  a  paper  to  be  read  in  Junto,  representing 
these  irregularities,  but  insisting  more  particularly 
on  the  inequality  of  this  six-shilling  tax  of  the  con 
stables,  respecting  the  circumstances  of  those  who 
paid  it,  since  a  poor  widow  housekeeper,  all  whose 
property  to  be  guarded  by  the  watch  did  not  per 
haps  exceed  the  value  of  fifty  pounds,  paid  as  much 
as  the  wealthiest  merchant,  who  had  thousands  of 
pounds'  worth  of  goods  in  his  stores. 

On  the  whole,  I  proposed  as  a  more  effectual 
watch,  the  hiring  of  proper  men  to  serve  constantly 
in  that  business  ;  and  as  a  more  equitable  way  of 
supporting  the  charge,  the  levying  a  tax  that  should 
be  proportion'd  to  the  property.  This  idea,  being 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  249 

approv'd  by  the  Junto,  was  communicated  to  the 
other  clubs,  but  as  arising  in  each  of  them  ;  and 
though  the  plan  was  not  immediately  carried  into 
execution,  yet,  by  preparing  the  minds  of  people  for 
the  change,  it  paved  the  way  for  the  law  obtained  a 
few  years  after,  when  the  members  of  our  clubs 
were  grown  into  more  influence. 

About  this  time  I  wrote  a  paper  (first  to  be  read 
in  Junto,  but  it  was  afterward  publish'd)  on  the  dif 
ferent  accidents  and  carelessnesses  by  which  houses 
were  set  on  fire,  with  cautions  against  them,  and 
means  proposed  of  avoiding  them.  This  was  much 
spoken  of  as  a  useful  piece,  and  gave  rise  to  a  pro 
ject,  which  soon  followed  it,  of  forming  a  company 
for  the  more  ready  extinguishing  of  fires,  and  mutual 
assistance  in  removing  and  securing  of  goods  \vhen 
in  danger.  Associates  in  this  scheme  were  presently 
found,  amounting  to  thirty.  Our  articles  of  agree 
ment  oblig'd  every  member  to  keep  always  in  good 
order,  and  fit  for  use,  a  certain  number  of  leather 
buckets,  with  strong  bags  and  baskets  (for  packing 
and  transporting  of  goods) ,  which  were  to  be  brought 
to  every  fire  ;  and  we  agreed  to  meet  once  a  month 
and  spend  a  social  evening  together,  in  discoursing 
and  communicating  such  ideas  as  occurred  to  us 
upon  the  subject  of  fires,  as  might  be  useful  in  our 
conduct  on  such  occasions. 

The  utility  of  this  institution  soon  appeared,  and 
many  more  desiring  to  be  admitted  than  we  thought 
convenient  for  one  company,  they  were  advised  to 

L  * 


250  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

form  another,  which  was  accordingly  done  ;  and  this 
went  on,  one  new  company  being  formed  after  an 
other,  till  they  became  so  numerous  as  to  include 
most  of  the  inhabitants  who  were  men  of  property  ; 
and  now,  at  the  time  of  my  writing  this,  tho'  up 
ward  of  fifty  years  since  its  establishment,  that  which 
I  first  formed,  called  the  Union  Fire  Company,  still 
subsists  and  flourishes,  tho' the  first  members  are  all 
deceas'd  but  myself  and  one,  who  is  older  by  a  year 
than  I  am.  The  small  fines  that  have  been  paid  by 
members  for  absence  at  the  monthly  meetings  have 
been  apply'd  to  the  purchase  of  fire-engines,  lad 
ders,  fire-hooks,  and  other  useful  implements  for 
each  company,  so  that  I  question  whether  there  is  a 
city  in  the  world  better  provided  with  the  means  of 
putting  a  stop  to  beginning  conflagrations  ;  and,  in 
fact,  since  these  institutions,  the  city  has  never  lost 
by  fire  more  than  one  or  two  houses  at  a  time,  and 
the  flames  have  often  been  extinguished  before  the 
house  in  which  they  began  has  been  half  consumed.* 


*  This  fire  company  was  formed  Dec.  7,  1736.  It  was  designed  pri 
marily  for  the  security  of  the  property  of  its  members,  though  they  did 
not  limit  their  usefulness  to  their  own  members  when  their  property  was 
not  in  danger.  The  Union  Fire  Company  was  in  active  service  as  late 
as  1791.  In  a  roll  of  the  companies  of  that  day  we  find  it  heading  the 
list,  having  thirty  members,  one  engine,  two  hundred  and  fifty  buckets, 
thirteen  ladders,  two  hooks,  no  bags,  and  one  eighty-foot  rope. 

It  will  be  seen  by  the  articles  of  association  which  follow,  that  the 
number  of  members  was  restricted  to  thirty.  The  applicants  in  a  year 
or  two  much  exceeded  this  number,  and  there  being  no  possibility  of 
uniting  with  it,  measures  were  taken  to  form  a  new  company,  which  re 
sulted  in  1738  in  the  establishment  of  the  second  voluntary  fire  company, 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  251 

In  1739  arrived  among  us  from  Ireland  the  Rev 
erend  Mr.  Whitefield,  who   had    made  himself  re- 


"  The  Fellowship."  See  a  series  of  interesting  sketches  of  the  fire  ap 
paratus  and  the  Philadelphia  Fire  Department,  between  the  years  1701 
and  1802,  written  for  the  Philadelphia  Sunday  Dispatch,  by  Thompson 
Westcott. 

"  Articles  of  the  Union  Fire  Company  of  Philadelphia,  originally  formed 
Dec.  7,  1736. 

"  I.  That  we  will  each  of  us,  at  his  own  proper  charge,  provide  six 
leather  buckets  and  two  bags,  the  bags  to  be  made  of  good  ozenburgs  or 
wider  linen,  whereof  each  bag  shall  contain  four  yards  at  least,  and  shall 
have  a  running  cord  near  the  mouth,  which  said  buckets  and  bags  shall 
be  marked  with  their  own  names  respectively  and  company,  and  shall 
be  kept  ready  at  hand,  and  shall  be  applied  to  no  other  use  than  for  pre 
serving  our  own  and  our  fellow-citizens'  houses,  goods  and  effects,  in 
case  of  fire  as  aforesaid. 

"II.  That  if  any  of  us  shall  neglect  to  provide  his  buckets  and  bags 
as  aforesaid,  or  when  so  provided  shall  neglect  to  keep  them  ready  for 
the  uses  herein  mentioned,  or  shall  apply  them  to  any  other  purpose,  he 
shall  forfeit  and  pay  to  the  clerk  for  the  time  being,  for  the  use  of  the 
company,  the  sum  of  i-8th  of  a  dollar  for  each  bucket  or  bag  misapplied 
or  wanting,  except  any  of  them  happen  to  be  lost  at  a  fire. 

"  III.  That  if  any  of  the  buckets  or  bags  so  marked  as  aforesaid  shall 
be  lost  or  damaged  at  any  fire,  the  same  shall  be  supplied  or  repaired 
out  of  the  stock  of  the  company,  provided  notice  be  given  thereof  to  the 
company  within  four  months  after  such  loss  or  damage. 

"  IV.  That  we  will,  all  of  us,  upon  hearing  of  FIRE  breaking  out,  im 
mediately  repair  to  the  same  with  at  least  one-half  of  our  buckets  and 
bags,  and  there  exert  our  best  endeavors  to  extinguish  such  fire,  and 
preserve  the  goods  and  effects  of  such  of  us  as  may  be  in  danger. 
And  if  more  than  one  of  us  shall  be  in  clanger  at  one  time,  we  will  divide 
ourselves  with  the  remainder  of  our  buckets  and  bags  as  nearly  as  may 
be,  to  be  equally  helpful.  And  to  prevent  suspicious  persons  from 
coming  into  or  carrying  any  goods  out  of  such  houses  as  may  be  in 
clanger,  two  of  our  members  shall  constantly  attend  at  the  doors  until  all 
the  goods  and  effects  that  can  be  saved  are  packed  up  and  carried  to  a 
place  of  safety.  And  upon  hearing  the  cry  of  FIRE  in  the  night-time 
we  will  immediately  cause  sufficient  lights  to  be  distributed  in  such  parts 
of  the  houses  of  such  of  our  company  as  may  be  thought  in  danger,  in 


252  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

markable  there  as  an  itinerant  preacher.  He  was 
at  first  permitted  to  preach  in  some  of  our  churches  ; 
but  the  clergy,  taking  a  dislike  to  him,  soon  refus'd 
him  their  pulpits,  and  he  was  oblig'd  to  preach  in 
the  fields.  The  multitudes  of  all  sects  and  denomi 
nations  that  attended  his  sermons  were  enormous, 


order  to  prevent  confusion  and  enable  their  friends  to  give  them  more 
speedy  and  effectual  assistance.  And  moreover,  as  this  association  is 
intended  for  a  general  benefit,  we  do  further  agree,  that  whenever  a 
FIRE  breaks  out  in  any  part  of  the  city,  though  none  of  our  houses,  goods 
or  effects  may  be  in  apparent  danger,  we  will  nevertheless  repair  thither 
with  our  buckets  and  bags  as  before  mentioned,  and  give  our  utmost 
assistance  to  such  of  our  fellow-citizens  as  may  stand  in  need  of  it,  in  the 
same  manner  as  if  they  belonged  to  this  company. 

"  V.  Provides  for  eight  meetings  during  the  year,  and  every  member 
shall  pay  three  shillings  for  his  share  of  the  reckoning  of  the  evening. 
Members  not  there  at  the  commencement  of  the  evening  to  pay  one 
shilling ;  those  not  there  during  the  entire  evening  to  pay  four  shilling. 

"VI.  Provides  that  each  of  us,  in  our  turns,  agreeable  to  the  order 
of  our  subscriptions,  serve  the  company  as  clerk  or  get  some  other  mem 
ber  to  serve  in  our  stead,  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  inspect  the  condition 
of  all  our  buckets,  bags,  ladders  and  engine,  and  make  report  at  each 
meeting.  The  article  also  sets  out  the  duties  of  the  clerk,  such  as  giv 
ing  notice  of  meetings,  keeping  minutes,  etc. 

"VII.  Provides  for  the  election  of  treasurer  and  prescribes  his  duties. 

"  VIII.  Provides  that  the  company  shall  not  consist  of  more  than 
thirty  members,  etc. 

"  IX.  Provides  that  each  member  shall  keep  a  copy  of  these  articles 
and  a  list  of  all  the  members'  names  fixed  in  open  view  near  his  buckets, 
on  pain  of  forfeiture  for  each,  as  often  as  the  same  is  reported  to  the 
company. 

"  X.  Provides  that  all  fines  shall  be  paid  to  the  treasurer  for  the  use 
of  the  company. 

"  XL  That  upon  the  death  of  any  of  our  company  the  survivors  shall, 
in  time  of  danger  as  aforesaid,  be  aiding  and  assisting  the  widow  of  such 
decedent  during  her  widowhood,  as  if  her  husband  had  been  living — she 
only  keeping  her  buckets  and  bags  in  repair,  and  causing  them  to  be 
sent  to  every  fire  aforesaid." — B. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  253 

and  it  was  matter  of  speculation  to  me,  who  was  one 
of  the  number,  to  observe  the  extraordinary  influ 
ence  of  his  oratory  on  his  hearers,  and  how  much 
they  admir'd  and  respected  him,  notwithstanding 
his  common  abuse  of  them,  by  assuring  them  they 
were  naturally  half  beasts  and  half  devils.  It  was 
wonderful  to  see  the  change  soon  made  in  the 
manners  of  our  inhabitants.  From  being  thought 
less  or  indifferent  about  religion,  it  seem'd  as  if 
all  the  world  were  growing  religious,  so  that  one 
could  not  walk  thro'  the  town  in  an  evening  without 
hearing  psalms  sung  in  different  families  of  every 
street. 

And  it  being  found  inconvenient  to  assemble  in 
the  open  air,  subject  to  its  inclemencies,  the  build 
ing  of  a  house  to  meet  in  was  no  sooner  propos'd, 
and  persons  appointed  to  receive  contributions,  but 
sufficient  sums  were  soon  receiv'd  to  procure  the 
ground  and  erect  the  building,  which  was  one  hun 
dred  feet  long  and  seventy  broad,  about  the  size  of 
Westminster  Hall ;  and  the  work  was  carried  on 
with  such  spirit  as  to  be  finished  in  a  much  shorter 
time  than  could  have  been  expected.  Both  house 
and  ground  were  vested  in  trustees,  expressly  for 
the  use  of  any  preacher  of  any  religious  persuasion 
who  might  desire  to  say  something  to  the  people  at 
Philadelphia  ;  the  design  in  building  not  being  to 
accommodate  any  particular  sect,  but  the  inhabitants 
in  general ;  so  that  even  if  the  Mufti  of  Constanti 
nople  were  to  send  a  missionary  to  preach  Moham- 
22 


254  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

medanism  to  us,  he  would  find  a  pulpit  at  his 
service. 

Mr.  Whitefield,  in  leaving  us,  went  preaching  all 
the  way  thro'  the  colonies  to  Georgia.  The  set 
tlement  of  that  province  had  lately  been  begun,  but, 
instead  of  being  made  with  hardy,  industrious  hus 
bandmen,  accustomed  to  labor,  the  only  people  fit 
for  such  an  enterprise,  it  was  with  families  of  broken 
shop-keepers  and  other  insolvent  debtors,  many  of 
indolent  and  idle  habits,  taken  out  of  the  jails,  who, 
being  set  down  in  the  woods,  unqualified  for  clear 
ing  land,  and  unable  to  endure  the  hardships  of  a 
new  settlement,  perished  in  numbers,  leaving  many 
helpless  children  unprovided  for.  The  sight  of  their 
miserable  situation  inspir'd  the  benevolent  heart  of 
Mr.  Whitefield  with  the  idea  of  building  an  Orphan 
House  there,  in  which  they  might  be  supported  and 
educated.  Returning  northward,  he  preach'd  up 
this  charity,  and  made  large  collections,  for  his 
eloquence  had  a  wonderful  power  over  the  hearts 
and  purses  of  his  hearers,  of  which  I  myself  was 
an  instance. 

I  did  not  disapprove  of  the  design,  but,  as  Georgia 
was  then  destitute  of  materials  and  workmen,  and 
it  was  proposed  to  send  them  from  Philadelphia  at  a 
great  expense,  I  thought  it  would  have  been  better 
to  have  built  the  house  here,  and  brought  the  chil 
dren  to  it.  This  I  advis'd  ;  but  he  was  resolute  in 
his  first  project,  rejected  my  counsel,  and  I  there 
fore  refus'd  to  contribute.  I  happened  soon  after  to 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  255 

attend  one  of  his  sermons,  in  the  course  of  which  I 
perceived  he  intended  to  finish  with  a  collection, 
and  I  silently  resolved  he  should  get  nothing  from 
me.  I  had  in  my  pocket  a  handful  of  copper 
money,  three  or  four  silver  dollars,  and  five  pistoles 
in  gold.  As  he  proceeded  I  began  to  soften,  and 
concluded  to  give  the  coppers.  Another  stroke  of 
his  oratory  made  me  asham'd  of  that,  and  deter- 
min'd  me  to  give  the  silver ;  and  he  finish'd  so 
admirably,  that  I  empty'd  my  pocket  wholly  into  the 
collector's  dish,  gold  and  all.  At  this  sermon  there 
was  also  one  of  our  club,  who,  being  of  my  senti 
ments  respecting  the  building  in  Georgia,  and  sus 
pecting  a  collection  might  be  intended,  had,  by  pre 
caution,  emptied  his  pockets  before  he  came  from 
home.  Towards  the  conclusion  of  the  discourse, 
however,  he  felt  a  strong  desire  to  give,  and  apply 'd 
to  a  neighbour,  who  stood  near  him,  to  borrow 
some  money  for  the  purpose.  The  application  was 
unfortunately  [made]  to  perhaps  the  only  man  in  the 
company  who  had  the  firmness  not  to  be  affected  by 
the  preacher.  His  answer  was,  "At  any  other 
time,  Friend  Hopkinson,  I  would  lend  to  thee 
freely ;  but  not  now,  for  thee  seems  to  be  out  of 
thy  right  senses." 

Some  of  Mr.  Whitefield's  enemies  affected  to  sup 
pose  that  he  would  apply  these  collections  to  his 
own  private  emolument;  but  I,  who  \vas  intimately 
acquainted  \vith  him  (being  employed  in  printing 
his  Sermons  and  Journals,  etc.),  never  had  the  least 


256  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

suspicion  of  his  integrity,  but  am  to  this  day  de 
cidedly  of  opinion  that  he  was  in  all  his  conduct  a 
perfectly  honest  man ;  and  methinks  my  testimony 
in  his  favour  ought  to  have  the  more  weight,  as  we 
had  no  religious  connection.  He  us'd,  indeed, 
sometimes  to  pray  for  my  conversion,  but  never  had 
the  satisfaction  of  believing  that  his  prayers  were 
heard.  Ours  was  a  mere  civil  friendship,  sincere 
on  both  sides,  and  lasted  to  his  death. 

The  following  instance  will  show  something  of 
the  terms  on  which  we  stood.  Upon  one  of  his 
arrivals  from  England  at  Boston,  he  wrote  to  me 
that  he  should  come  soon  to  Philadelphia,  but  knew 
not  where  he  could  lodge  when  there,  as  he  under 
stood  his  old  friend  and  host,  Mr.  Benezet,  was 
removed  to  Germantown.  My  answer  was,  "You 
know  my  house ;  if  you  can  make  shift  with  its 
scanty  accommodations,  you  will  be  most  heartily 
welcome."  He  reply'd,  that  if  I  made  that  kind 
offer  for  Christ's  sake,  I  should  not  miss  of  a  reward. 
And  I  returned,  "Don't  let  me  be  mistaken;  it  was 
not  for  Chris fs  sake,  but  for  yotir  sake."  One  of 
our  common  acquaintance  jocosely  remark'd,  that, 
knowing  it  to  be  the  custom  of  the  saints,  when 
they  received  any  favour,  to  shift  the  burden  of 
the  obligation  from  off  their  own  shoulders,  and 
place  it  in  heaven,  I  had  contriv'd  to  fix  it  on 
earth. 

The  last  time  I  saw  Mr.  Whitefield  was  in  Lon 
don,  when  he  consulted  me  about  his  Orphan  House 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  257 

concern,  and  his  purpose  of  appropriating  it  to  the 
establishment  of  a  college. 

He  had  a  loud  and  clear  voice,  and  articulated  his 
words  and  sentences  so  perfectly,  that  he  might  be 
heard  and  understood  at  a  great  distance,  especially  as 
his  auditories,  however  numerous,  observ'd  the  most 
exact  silence.  He  preach'd  one  evening  from  the  top 
of  the  Court-house  steps,  which  are  in  the  middle  of 
of  Market-street,  and  on  the  west  side  of  Second-street, 
which  crosses  it  at  right  angles.  Both  streets  were 
fill'd  with  his  hearers  to  a  considerable  distance. 
Being  among  the  hindmost  in  Market-street,  I  had 
the  curiosity  to  learn  how  far  he  could  be  heard,  by  re 
tiring  backwards  down  the  street  towards  the  river ; 
and  I  found  his  voice  distinct  till  I  came  near  Front- 
street,  when  some  noise  in  that  street  obscur'd  it. 
Imagining  then  a  semicircle,  of  which  my  distance 
should  be  the  radius,  and  that  it  were  fill'd  with 
auditors,  to  each  of  whom  I  allow'd  two  square  feet, 
I  computed  that  he  might  well  be  heard  by  more 
than  thirty  thousand.  This  reconcil'd  me  to  the 
newspaper  accounts  of  his  having  preach'd  to 
twenty-five  thousand  people  in  the  fields,  and  to 
the  antient  histories  of  generals  haranguing  whole 
armies,  of  which  I  had  sometimes  doubted. 

By  hearing  him  often,  I  came  to  distinguish  easily 
between  sermons  newly  compos'd,  and  those  which 
he  had  often  preach'd  in  the  course  of  his  travels. 
His  delivery  of  the  latter  was  so  improv'd  by  fre 
quent  repetitions  that  every  accent,  every  emphasis, 

22* 


258  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

every  modulation  of  voice,  was  so  perfectly  well 
turn'd  and  well  plac'd,  that,  without  being  interested 
in  the  subject,  one  could  not  help  being  pleas'd 
with  the  discourse ;  a  pleasure  of  much  the  same 
kind  with  that  receiv'd  from  an  excellent  piece  of 
musick.  This  is  an  advantage  itinerant  preachers 
have  over  those  who  are  stationary,  as  the  latter 
can  not  well  improve  their  delivery  of  a  sermon  by 
so  many  rehearsals. 

His  writing  and  printing  from  time  to  time  gave 
great  advantage  to  his  enemies ;  unguarded  expres 
sions,  and  even  erroneous  opinions,  delivered  in 
preaching,  might  have  been  afterwards  explain'd  or 
qualifi'd  by  supposing  others  that  might  have  ac- 
compani'd  them,  or  they  might  have  been  deny'd ; 
but  litera  scri^ta  manet.  Critics  attack'd  his  writ 
ings  violently,  and  with  so  much  appearance  of 
reason  as  to  diminish  the  number  of  his  votaries  and 
prevent  their  encrease ;  so  that  I  am  of  opinion  if 
he  had  never  written  any  thing,  he  would  have  left 
behind  him  a  much  more  numerous  and  important 
sect,  and  his  reputation  might  in  that  case  have  been 
still  growing,  even  after  his  death,  as  there  being 
nothing  of  his  writing  on  which  to  found  a  censure 
and  give  him  a  lower  character,  his  proselytes  would 
be  left  at  liberty  to  feign  for  him  as  great  a  variety 
of  excellences  as  their  enthusiastic  admiration  might 
wish  him  to  have  possessed. 

My  business  was  now  continually  augmenting, 
and  my  circumstances  growing  daily  easier,  my 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  259 

newspaper  having  become  very  profitable,  as  being 
for  a  time  almost  the  only  one  in  this  and  the  neigh 
bouring  provinces.  I  experienced,  too,  the  truth  of 
the  observation,  "  that  after  getting  the  first  htm- 
dred  found,  it  is  more  easy  to  get  the  second" 
money  itself  being  of  a  prolific  nature. 

The  partnership  at  Carolina  having  succeeded,  I 
was  encourag'd  to  engage  in  others,  and  to  promote 
several  of  my  workmen,  who  had  behaved  well,  by 
establishing  them  with  printing-houses  in  different 
colonies,  on  the  same  terms  with  that  in  Carolina. 
Most  of  them  did  well,  being  enabled  at  the  end  of 
our  term,  six  years,  to  purchase  the  types  of  me  and 
go  on  \vorking  for  themselves,  by  which  means 
several  families  were  raised.  Partnerships  often 
finish  in  quarrels  ;  but  I  was  happy  in  this,  that 
mine  were  all  carried  on  and  ended  amicably, 
owing,  I  think,  a  good  deal  to  the  precaution  of 
having  very  explicitly  settled,  in  our  articles,  every 
thing  to  be  done  by  or  expected  from  each  partner, 
so  that  there  was  nothing  to  dispute,  which  precau 
tion  I  would  therefore  recommend  to  all  who  enter 
into  partnerships ;  for,  whatever  esteem  partners 
may  have  for,  and  confidence  in  each  other  at  the 
time  of  the  contract,  little  jealousies  and  disgusts 
may  arise,  with  ideas  of  inequality  in  the  care  and 
burden  of  the  business,  etc.,  which  are  attended 
often  with  breach  of  friendship  and  of  the  connec 
tion,  perhaps  with  lawsuits  and  other  disagreeable 
consequences. 


260  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

I  had,  on  the  whole,  abundant  reason  to  be  satis 
fied  with  my  being  established  in  Pennsylvania. 
There  were,  however,  two  things  that  I  regretted, 
there  being  no  provision  for  defense,  nor  for  a  com- 
pleat  education  of  youth  ;  no  militia,  nor  any  col 
lege.  I  therefore,  in  1743,  drew  up  a  proposal  for 
establishing  an  academy  ;  and  at  that  time,  thinking 
the  Reverend  Mr.  Peters,  who  was  out  of  employ, 
a  fit  person  to  superintend  such  an  institution,  I 
communicated  the  project  to  him;  but  he,  having 
more  profitable  views  in  the  service  of  the  propri 
etaries,  which  succeeded,  declin'd  the  undertaking ; 
and,  not  knowing  another  at  that  time  suitable  for 
such  a  trust,  I  let  the  scheme  lie  a  while  dormant. 
I  succeeded  better  the  next  year,  1744,  in  proposing 
and  establishing  a  Philosophical  Society.  The 
paper  I  wrote  for  that  purpose  will  be  found  among 
my  writings,  when  collected.* 


*  The  paper  here  referred  to  will  be  found  in  the  4th  vol.  of  Sparks' 
Works  of  Franklin,  p.  14.  It  bears  date  the  I4th  of  May,  1743,  Old 
Style.  It  is  entitled,  "  A  proposal  for  promoting  useful  knowledge 
among  the  British  Plantations  in  America."  It  commences  by  speaking 
of  the  great  extent  of  the  colonial  possessions,  "  having  different  cli 
mates  and  different  soils,  producing  different  plants,  mines,  and  mine 
rals,  and  capable  of  different  improvements,  manufactures,"  etc. 

It  then  says :  "  The  first  drudgery  of  settling  new  colonies,  which 
confines  the  attention  of  people  to  mere  necessaries,  is  now  pretty  well 
over;  and  there  are  many  in  every  province  in  circumstances  that  set 
them  at  ease,  and  afford  leisure  to  cultivate  the  finer  arts,  and  improve 
the  common  stock  of  knowledge.  To  such  of  these  who  are  men  of 
speculation,  many  hints  must  from  time  to  time  arise,  many  observations 
occur,  which  if  well  examined,  pursued,  and  improved,  might  produce 
discoveries  to  the  advantage  of  some  or  all  of  the  British  Plantations,  or 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  261 

With  respect  to  defense,  Spain  having  been  sev 
eral  years  at  war  against  Great  Britain,  and  being 


to  the  benefit  of  mankind  in  general But  as,  from  the  extent  of 

the  country,  such  persons  are  widely  separated,  and  seldom  can  see  and 
converse  or  be  acquainted  with  each  other,  so  that  many  useful  particu 
lars  remain  uncommunicated,  die  with  the  discoverers,  and  are  lost  to 
mankind  ;  it  is  to  remedy  this  inconvenience  for  the  future,  proposed — 

"  That  one  society  be  formed  of  virtuosi,  or  ingenious  men,  residing 
in  the  several  colonies,  to  be  called  The  American  Philosophical  So 
ciety,  who  are  to  maintain  constant  correspondence. 

"  That  Philadelphia,  being  the  city  nearest  to  the  centre  of  the  con 
tinent  colonies,  communicating  with  all  of  them  northward  and  south 
ward  by  post,  and  with  all  the  islands  by  sea,  and  having  the  advantage 
of  a  good  growing  library,  be  the  centre  of  the  Society. 

"  That  at  Philadelphia  there  be  always  at  least  seven  members,  viz. 
a  physician,  a  botanist,  a  mathematician,  a  chemist,  a  mechanician,  a 
geographer,  and  a  general  natural  philosopher,  besides  a  president,  trea 
surer,  and  secretary. 

"  That  these  members  meet  once  a  month,  or  oftener,  at  their  own 
expense,  to  communicate  to  each  other  their  observations  and  experi 
ments  ;  to  receive,  read,  and  consider  such  letters,  communications,  or 
queries  as  shall  be  sent  from  distant  members  ;  to  direct  the  dispersing 
of  the  copies  of  such  communications  as  are  valuable,  to  other  distant 
members,  in  order  to  procure  their  sentiments  thereupon." 

Then  follows  an  enumeration,  made  with  some  detail,  of  the  subjects 
on  which  it  was  proposed  that  the  Society  should  be  occupied :  includ 
ing  investigations  in  botany  ;  in  medicine  ;  in  mineralogy  and  mining  ; 
in  mathematics;  in  chemistry;  in  mechanics;  in  arts,  trades,  and 
manufactures  ;  in  geography  and  topography ;  in  agriculture  ;  and  "  all 
philosophical  experiments  that  let  light  into  the  nature  of  things,  tend 
to  increase  the  power  of  man  over  matter,  and  multiply  the  conveniences 
or  pleasures  of  life." 

The  circular  proposes  that  "  a  correspondence  be  kept  up  with  the 
Royal  Society  of  London,  and  the  Dublin  Society ;  that  abstracts  of 
the  communications  be  sent  quarterly  to  all  the  members ;  and  that, 
at  the  end  of  every  year,  collections  be  made  and  printed  of  such  expe 
riments,  discoveries,  and  improvements,  as  may  be  thought  of  public 
advantage." 

The  duties  of  the  secretary  are  particularly  laid  down,  and  they  are 


262  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

at  length  join'd  by  France,  which  brought  us   into 
great  danger ;  and  the  laboured  and  long-continued 


very  arduous ;  requiring  that  he  attend  to  all  the  correspondence, 
"  abstract,  correct,  and  methodize  such  papers  as  require  it,  and  as  he 
he  shall  be  directed  to  do  by  the  president,  after  they  have  been  con 
sidered,  debated,  and  digested  in  the  Society ;  to  enter  copies  thereof 
in  the  Society's  books,  and  make  out  copies  for  distant  members." 
And  after  enumerating  these  difficult  duties,  the  circular  closes  by 
saying : 

"  Benjamin  Franklin,  the  writer  of  this  proposal,  offers  himself  to 
serve  the  Society  as  their  secretary,  till  they  shall  be  provided  with 
one  more  capable." 

In  this  projet  will  be  found  all  the  leading  features  of  the  present 
American  Philosophical  Society.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  from  the 
day  when  it  was  proposed  the  necessary  measures  for  carrying  it  into 
execution  were  taken.  Dr.  Thomas  Bond  (himself  one  of  the  original 
members),  in  an  oration  delivered  before  the  Society  in  1782,  says  : — 
"  Franklin  gradually  established  many  necessary  institutions,  among 
which  was  this  Philosophical  Society,  so  early  as  1743,  when  the  plan 
was  formed  and  published,  the  members  chosen,  and  an  invitation  given 
to  all  ingenious  persons  to  co-operate  and  correspond  with  them  on  the 
laudable  occasion."  It  is  true  that  Franklin,  in  his  Autobiography,  gives 
the  date  1744,  saying,  "in  that  year  I  succeeded  in  proposing  and 
establishing  a  Philosophical  Society.  The  paper  I  wrote  for  that  pur 
pose  will  be  found  among  my  writings,  if  not  lost  with  many  others." 
But  Franklin  wrote  from  memory,  and  the  date  of  the  paper  referred  to, 
which  was  doubtless  the  proposal  of  1743,  shows  that  he  had  made  a 
mistake  in  the  year. 

In  a  letter  to  Cadwallader  Golden,  dated  New  York,  5th  April,  1744, 
Dr.  Franklin  acquaints  him  "that  the  Society,  as  far  as  relates  to  Phi 
ladelphia,  was  actually  formed,  and  had  had  several  meetings  to  mutual 
satisfaction." 

In  this  letter  the  following  list  is  presented  of  the  original  members  : 

Dr.  THOMAS  BOND,  as  Physician. 

Mr.  JOHN  BARTRAM,  as  Botanist. 

Mr.  THOMAS  GODFREY,  as  Mathematician. 

Mr.  SAMUEL  RHOADS,  as  Mechanician. 

Mr.  WILLIAM  PARSONS,  as  Geographer. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  263 

endeavour  of  our  governor,  Thomas,  to  prevail  with 
our  Quaker  Assembly  to  pass  a  militia  law,  and 
make  other  provisions  for  the  security  of  the  pro 
vince,  having  proved  abortive,  I  determined  to  try 
what  might  be  done  by  a  voluntary  association  of 
the  people.  To  promote  this,  I  first  wrote  and  pub 
lished  a  pamphlet,  entitled  PLAIN  TRUTH,  in  which 
I  stated  our  defenceless  situation  in  strong  lights, 
with  the  necessity  of  union  and  discipline  for  our 
defense,  and  promis'd  to  propose  in  a  few  days  an 
association,  to  be  generally  signed  for  that  purpose. 
The  pamphlet  had  a  sudden  and  surprising  effect. 
I  was  call'd  upon  for  the  instrument  of  association, 
and  having  settled  the  draft  of  it  with  a  few  friends,  I 
appointed  a  meeting  of  the  citizens  in  the  large  build 
ing  before  mentioned.  The  house  was  pretty  full ;  I 
had  prepared  a  number  of  printed  copies,  and  pro 
vided  pens  and  ink  dispers'd  all  over  the  room.  I 


Dr.  PHINEAS  BOND,  as  General  Natural  Philosopher. 
Mr.  THOMAS  HOPKINSON,  President. 
Mr.  WILLIAM  COLEMAN,  Treasurer. 
BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN,  Secretary. 

Though  the  American  Philosophical  Society  was  not,  strictly  speak 
ing,  the  organic  continuation  of  the  Junto,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that 
the  plan  of  establishing  it  had  been  often  brought  before  the  Junto  for 
consideration,  for  we  know  that  it  was  the  practice  of  Franklin,  when 
he  had  new  projects  to  propose,  to  have  them  first  discussed  in  the 
Club.  But  a  stronger  evidence  still  of  the  part  which  they  took  in  form 
ing  the  new  institution  is  presented  by  the  fact  that  of  the  nine  original 
members  of  the  Philosophical  Society,  six,  including  the  three  officers, 
are  known  to  have  belonged  to  the  Junto, — namely,  Franklin,  Hopkin- 
son,  Coleman,  Godfrey,  Rhoads,  and  Parsons. — B. 


264  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

harangued  them  a  little  on  the  subject,  read  the 
paper,  and  explained  it,  and  then  distributed  the 
copies,  which  were  eagerly  signed,  not  the  least 
objection  being  made. 

When  the  company  separated,  and  the  papers 
were  collected,  we  found  above  twelve  hundred 
hands ;  and,  other  copies  being  dispersed  in  the 
country,  the  subscribers  amounted  at  length  to  up 
ward  of  ten  thousand.  These  all  furnished  them 
selves  as  soon  as  they  could  with  arms,  formed 
themselves  into  companies  and  regiments,  chose 
their  own  officers,  and  met  every  week  to  be  in 
structed  in  the  manual  exercise,  and  other  parts  of 
military  discipline.  The  women,  by  subscriptions 
among  themselves,  provided  silk  colors,  which  they 
presented  to  the  companies,  painted  with  different 
devices  and  mottos,  which  I  supplied. 

The  officers  of  the  companies  composing  the 
Philadelphia  regiment,  being  met,  chose  me  for 
their  colonel ;  but,  conceiving  myself  unfit,  I  de- 
clin'd  that  station,  and  recommended  Mr.  Lawrence, 
a  fine  person,  and  man  of  influence,  who  was  ac 
cordingly  appointed.  I  then  propos'd  a  lottery  to 
defray  the  expense  of  building  a  battery  below  the 
town,  and  furnishing  it  with  cannon.  It  filled  ex- 
peditiously,  and  the  battery  was  soon  erected,  the 
merlons  being  fram'd  of  logs  and  fill'd  with  earth. 
We  bought  some  old  cannon  from  Boston,  but,  these 
not  being  sufficient,  we  wrote  to  England  for  more, 
soliciting,  at  the  same  time,  our  proprietaries  for 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  26$ 

some  assistance,  tho'  without  much  expectation  of 
obtaining  it. 

Meanwhile,  Colonel  Lawrence,  William  Allen, 
Abram  Taylor,  Esqr.,  and  myself  were  sent  to 
New  York  by  the  associators,  commission'd  to  bor 
row  some  cannon  of  Governor  Clinton.  He  at  first 
refus'd  us  peremptorily  ;  but  at  dinner  with  his  coun 
cil,  where  there  was  great  drinking  of  Madeira  wine, 
as  the  custom  of  that  place  then  was,  he  softened  by 
degrees,  and  said  he  would  lend  us  six.  After  a 
few  more  bumpers  he  advanc'd  to  ten  ;  and  at  length 
he  very  good-naturedly  conceded  eighteen.  They 
were  fine  cannon,  eighteen-pounders,  with  their  car 
riages,  which  we  soon  transported  and  mounted 
on  our  battery,  where  the  associators  kept  a  nightly 
guard  while  the  war  lasted,  and  among  the  rest  I 
regularly  took  my  turn  of  duty  there  as  a  common 
soldier. 

My  activity  in  these  operations  was  agreeable  to 
the  governor  and  council ;  they  took  me  into  con 
fidence,  and  I  was  consulted  by  them  in  every  mea 
sure  wherein  their  concurrence  \vas  thought  useful 
to  the  association.  Calling  in  the  aid  of  religion,  I 
propos'd  to  them  the  proclaiming  a  fast,  to  promote 
reformation,  and  implore  the  blessing  of  Heaven  on 
our  undertaking.  They  embrac'd  the  motion  ;  but, 
as  it  was  the  first  fast  ever  thought  of  in  the  province, 
the  secretary  had  no  precedent  from  which  to  draw 
the  proclamation.  My  education  in  New  England, 
where  a  fast  is  proclaimed  every  year,  was  here  of 

23  M 


266  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

some  advantage  :  I  drew  it  in  the  accustomed  stile  ; 
it  was  translated  into  German,  printed  in  both  lan 
guages,  and  divulg'd  thro' the  province.  This  gave 
the  clergy  of  the  different  sects  an  opportunity  of 
influencing  their  congregations  to  join  in  the  asso 
ciation,  and  it  would  probably  have  been  general 
among  all  but  Quakers  if  the  peace  had  not  soon 
interven'd. 

It  was  thought  by  some  of  my  friends  that,  by 
my  activity  in  these  affairs,  I  should  offend  that  sect, 
and  thereby  lose  my  interest  in  the  Assembly  of 
the  province,  where  they  formed  a  great  majority. 
A  young  gentleman  who  had  likewise  some  friends 
in  the  House,  and  wished  to  succeed  me  as  their 
clerk,  acquainted  me  that  it  was  decided  to  displace 
me  at  the  next  election ;  and  he,  therefore,  in  good 
will,  advis'd  me  to  resign,  as  more  consistent  with 
my  honour  than  being  turn'd  out.  My  answer  to 
him  was,  that  I  had  read  or  heard  of  some  public 
man  who  made  it  a  rule  never  to  ask  for  an  office, 
and  never  to  refuse  one  when  offer'd  to  him.  "  I 
approve,"  says  I,  "of  his  rule,  and  will  practice  it 
with  a  small  addition ;  I  shall  never  ask,  never 
refuse,  nor  ever  resign  an  office.  If  they  will  have 
my  office  of  clerk  to  dispose  of  to  another,  they 
shall  take  it  from  me.  I  will  not,  by  giving  it  up, 
lose  my  right  of  some  time  or  other  making  reprisals 
on  my  adversaries."  I  heard,  however,  no  more  of 
this  ;  I  was  chosen  again  unanimously  as  usual  at 
the  next  election.  Possibly,  as  they  dislik'cl  my 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  267 

late  intimacy  with  the  members  of  council,  who 
had  join'd  the  governors  in  all  the  disputes  about 
military  preparations,  with  which  the  House  had 
long  been  harass'd,  they  might  have  been  pleas'd 
if  I  would  voluntarily  have  left  them ;  but  they  did 
not  care  to  displace  me  on  account  merely  of  my 
zeal  for  the  association,  and  they  could  not  well 
give  another  reason. 

Indeed  I  had  some  cause  to  believe  that  the  de 
fense  of  the  country  was  not  disagreeable  to  any  of 
them,  provided  they  were  not  requir'd  to  assist  in 
it.  And  I  found  that  a  much  greater  number 
of  them  than  I  could  have  imagined,  tho'  against 
offensive  war,  were  clearly  for  the  defensive.  Many 
pamphlets  -pro  and  con  were  publish'd  on  the  sub 
ject,  and  some  by  good  Quakers,  in  favour  of  de 
fense,  which  I  believe  convinc'd  most  of  their 
younger  people. 

A  transaction  in  our  fire  company  gave  me  some 
insight  into  their  prevailing  sentiments.  It  had  been 
propos'd  that  we  should  encourage  the  scheme  for 
building  a  battery  by  laying  out  the  present  stock, 
then  about  sixty  pounds,  in  tickets  of  the  lottery. 
By  our  rules,  no  money  could  be  dispos'd  of  till  the 
next  meeting  after  the  proposal.  The  company 
consisted  of  thirty  members,  of  which  twenty-two 
were  Quakers,  and  eight  only  of  other  persuasions. 
We  eight  punctually  attended  the  meeting ;  but, 
tho'  we  thought  that  some  of  the  Quakers  would 
join  us,  we  were  by  no  means  sure  of  a  majority. 


268  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

Only  one  Quaker,  Mr.  James  Morris,  appear'd  to 
oppose  the  measure.  He  expressed  much  sorrow 
that  it  had  ever  been  propos'd,  as  he  said  Friends 
were  all  against  it,  and  it  would  create  such  discord 
as  might  break  up  the  company.  We  told  him  that 
we  saw  no  reason  for  that ;  we  were  the  minority, 
and  if  Friends  were  against  the  measure,  and  out 
voted  us,  we  must  and  should,  agreeably  to  the 
usage  of  all  societies,  submit.  When  the  hour  for 
business  arriv'd  it  was  mov'd  to  put  the  vote ;  he 
allow'd  we  might  then  do  it  by  the  rules,  but,  as  he 
could  assure  us  that  a  number  of  members  intended 
to  be  present  for  the  purpose  of  opposing  it,  it 
would  be  but  candid  to  allow  a  little  time  for  their 
appearing. 

While  we  were  disputing  this,  a  waiter  came  to 
tell  me  two  gentlemen  below  desir'd  to  speak  with 
me.  I  went  down,  and  found  they  were  two  of  our 
Quaker  members.  They  told  me  there  were  eight 
of  them  assembled  at  a  tavern  just  by ;  that  they 
were  determin'd  to  come  and  vote  with  us  if  there 
should  be  occasion,  which  they  hop'd  would  not 
be  the  case,  and  desir'd  we  would  not  call  for  their 
assistance  if  we  could  do  without  it,  as  their  voting 
for  such  a  measure  might  embroil  them  with  their 
elders  and  friends.  Being  thus  secure  of  a  ma 
jority,  I  went  up,  and  after  a  little  seeming  hesita 
tion,  agreed  to  a  delay  of  another  hour.  This  Mr. 
Morris  allow'd  to  be  extreamly  fair.  Not  one  of  his 
opposing  friends  appear'd,  at  which  he  express'd 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  269 

great  surprize  ;  and,  at  the  expiration  of  the  hour, 
we  carry'd  the  resolution  eight  to  one ;  and  as,  of 
the  twenty-two  Quakers,  eight  were  ready  to  vote 
with  us,  and  thirteen,  by  their  absence,  manifested 
that  they  were  not  inclin'd  to  oppose  the  measure, 
I  afterward  estimated  the  proportion  of  Quakers 
sincerely  against  defense  as  one  to  twenty-one  only  ; 
for  these  were  all  regular  members  of  that  society, 
and  in  good  reputation  among  them,  and  had  due 
notice  of  what  was  propos'd  at  that  meeting. 

The  honorable  and  learned  Mr.  Logan,  who  had 
always  been  of  that  sect,  was  one  who  wrote  an 
address  to  them,  declaring  his  approbation  of  defen 
sive  war,  and  supporting  his  opinion  by  many  strong 
arguments.  He  put  into  my  hands  sixty  pounds  to 
be  laid  out  in  lottery  tickets  for  the  battery,  with 
directions  to  apply  what  prizes  might  be  drawn 
wholly  to  that  service.  He  told  me  the  following 
anecdote  of  his  old  master,  William  Penn,  respect 
ing  defense.  He  came  over  from  England,  when  a 
young  man,  with  that  proprietary,  and  as  his  secre 
tary.  It  was  war-time,  and  their  ship  was  chas'd  by 
an  armed  vessel,  suppos'd  to  be  an  enemy.  Their 
captain  prepared  for  defense  ;  but  told  William  Penn, 
and  his  company  of  Quakers,  that  he  did  not  expect 
their  assistance,  and  they  might  retire  into  the  cabin, 
which  they  did,  except  James  Logan,  who  chose  to 
stay  upon  deck,  and  was  quarter'd  to  a  gun.  The 
suppos'd  enemy  prov'd  a  friend,  so  there  was  no 
righting  ;  but  when  the  secretary  went  down  to  com- 

23* 


270  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

municate  the  intelligence,  William  Penn  rebuk'd 
him  severely  for  staying  upon  deck,  and  undertak 
ing  to  assist  in  defending  the  vessel,  contrary  to  the 
principles  of  Friends,  especially  as  it  had  not  been 
required  by  the  captain.  This  reproof,  being  before 
all  the  company,  piqu'dthe  secretary,  who  answer'd, 
"  I  being  thy  servant,  why  did  thee  not  order  me 
to  come  down  f  But  thee  -was  willing  enough  that 
I  should  stay  and  help  to  fight  the  ship  when  thee 
thought  there  was  danger" 

My  being  many  years  in  the  Assembly,  the  ma 
jority  of  which  were  constantly  Quakers,  gave  me 
frequent  opportunities  of  seeing  the  embarrassment 
given  them  by  their  principle  against  war,  when 
ever  application  was  made  to  them,  by  order  of  the 
crown,  to  grant  aids  for  military  purposes.  They 
were  unwilling  to  offend  government,  on  the  one 
hand,  by  a  direct  refusal ;  and  their  friends,  the 
body  of  the  Quakers,  on  the  other,  by  a  compliance 
contrary  to  their  principles ;  hence  a  variety  of  eva 
sions  to  avoid  complying,  and  modes  of  disguising 
the  compliance  when  it  became  unavoidable.  The 
common  mode  at  last  was,  to  grant  money  under 
the  phrase  of  its  being  "for  the  kings  use"  and 
never  to  inquire  how  it  was  applied. 

But,  if  the  demand  was  not  directly  from  the 
crown,  that  phrase  was  found  not  so  proper,  and 
some  other  was  to  be  invented.  As,  when  powder 
was  wanting  (I  think  it  was  for  the  garrison  at 
Louisburg),  and  the  government  of  New  England 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  2jl 

solicited  a  grant  of  some  from  Pennsilvania,  which 
was  much  urg'd  on  the  House  by  Governor  Thomas, 
they  could  not  grant  money  to  buy  powder,  because 
that  was  an  ingredient  of  war ;  but  they  voted  an 
aid  to  New  England  of  three  thousand  pounds,  to 
be  put  into  the  hands  of  the  governor,  and  appro 
priated  it  for  the  purchasing  of  bread,  flour,  wheat, 
or  other  grain.  Some  of  the  council,  desirous  of 
giving  the  House  still  further  embarrassment,  ad- 
vis'd  the  governor  not  to  accept  provision,  as  not 
being  the  thing  he  had  demanded ;  but  he  reply'd, 
"  I  shall  take  the  money,  for  I  understand  very  well 
their  meaning ;  other  grain  is  gunpowder,"  which 
he  accordingly  bought,  and  they  never  objected 
to  it.* 

It  was  in  allusion  to  this  fact  that,  when  in  our 
fire  company  we  feared  the  success  of  our  proposal 
in  favour  of  the  lottery,  and  I  had  said  to  my  friend 
Mr.  Syng,  one  of  our  members,  "  If  we  fail,  let  us 
move  the  purchase  of  a  fire-engine  with  the  money ; 
the  Quakers  can  have  no  objection  to  that ;  and 
then,  if  you  nominate  me  and  I  you  as  a  committee 
for  that  purpose,  we  will  buy  a  great  gun,  which  is 
certainly  a  fire- engine.'''  "I  see,"  says  he,  "you 
have  improv'd  by  being  so  long  in  the  Assembly  ; 
your  equivocal  project  would  be  just  a  match  for 
their  wheat  or  other  grain" 

These  embarrassments  that  the  Quakers  suffered 


*  See  the  votes. — [Marg.  note]. 


272  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

from  having  establish'd  and  published  it  as  one  of 
their  principles  that  no  kind  of  war  was  lawful,  and 
which,  being  once  published,  they  could  not  after 
wards,  however  they  might  change  their  minds, 
easily  get  rid  of,  reminds  me  of  what  I  think  a  more 
prudent  conduct  in  another  sect  among  us,  that  of 
the  Dunkers.  I  was  acquainted  with  one  of  its 
founders,  Michael  Welfare,  soon  after  it  appear'd. 
He  complain'd  to  me  that  they  were  grievously 
calumniated  by  the  zealots  of  other  persuasions,  and 
charg'd  with  abominable  principles  and  practices,  to 
which  they  were  utter  strangers.  I  told  him  this 
had  always  been  the  case  with  new  sects,  and  that, 
to  put  a  stop  to  such  abuse,  I  imagin'd  it  might  be 
wrell  to  publish  the  articles  of  their  belief,  and  the 
rules  of  their  discipline.  He  said  that  it  had  been 
propos'd  among  them,  but  not  agreed  to,  for  this 
reason  :  ' '  When  we  were  first  drawn  together  as  a 
society,"  says  he,  "  it  had  pleased  God  to  enlighten 
our  minds  so  far  as  to  see  that  some  doctrines, 
which  we  once  esteemed  truths,  were  errors  ;  and  that 
others,  which  we  had  esteemed  errors,  were  real 
truths.  From  time  to  time  He  has  been  pleased  to 
afford  us  farther  light,  and  our  principles  have  been 
improving,  and  our  errors  diminishing.  Now  we 
are  not  sure  that  we  are  arrived  at  the  end  of  this 
progression,  and  at  the  perfection  of  spiritual  or 
theological  knowledge ;  and  we  fear  that,  if  we 
should  once  print  our  confession  of  faith,  we  should 
feel  ourselves  as  if  bound  and  confin'd  by  it,  and 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  273 

perhaps  be  unwilling  to  receive  farther  improve 
ment,  and  our  successors  still  more  so,  as  conceiv 
ing  what  we  their  elders  and  founders  had  done,  to 
be  something  sacred,  never  to  be  departed  from." 

This  modesty  in  a  sect  is  perhaps  a  singular  in 
stance  in  the  history  of  mankind,  every  other  sect 
supposing  itself  in  possession  of  all  truth,  and  that 
those  who  differ  are  so  far  in  the  wrong ;  like  a  man 
traveling  in  foggy  weather,  those  at  some  distance 
before  him  on  the  road  he  sees  wrapped  up  in  the 
fog,  as  well  as  those  behind  him,  and  also  the  people 
in  the  fields  on  each  side,  but  near  him  all  appears 
clear,  tho'  in  truth  he  is  as  much  in  the  fog  as  any 
of  them.  To  avoid  this  kind  of  embarrassment, 
the  Quakers  have  of  late  years  been  gradually  de 
clining  the  public  service  in  the  Assembly  and  in 
the  magistracy,  choosing  rather  to  quit  their  power 
than  their  principle. 

In  order  of  time,  I  should  have  mentioned  before, 
that  having,  in  1742,  invented  an  open  stove  for  the 
better  warming  of  rooms,  and  at  the  same  time  sav 
ing  fuel,  as  the  fresh  air  admitted  was  warmed  in 
entering,  I  made  a  present  of  the  model  to  Mr. 
Robert  Grace,  one  of  my  early  friends,  who,  having 
an  iron-furnace,  found  the  casting  of  the  plates  for 
these  stoves  a  profitable  thing,  as  they  were  grow 
ing  in  demand.  To  promote  that  demand,  I  wrote 
and  published  a  pamphlet,  entitled  "An  Account 
of  the  new-invented  Pennsylvania  Fireplaces; 
wherein  their  Construction  and  Manner  of  Opera- 

M* 


274  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

tion  is  particularly  explained;  their  Advantages 
above  every  other  Method  of  warming  Rooms  de 
monstrated;  and  all  Objections  that  have  been 
raised  against  the  Use  of  them  answered  and  ob 
viated"  etc.  This  pamphlet  had  a  good  effect. 
Gov'r.  Thomas  was  so  pleas'd  with  the  construction 
of  this  stove,  as  described  in  it,  that  he  offered  to 
give  me  a  patent  for  the  sole  vending  of  them  for  a 
term  of  years ;  but  I  declin'd  it  from  a  principle 
which  has  ever  weighed  with  me  on  such  occasions, 
viz.,  That,  as  we  enjoy  great  advantages  from  the 
inventions  of  others,  we  should  be  glad  of  an  op 
portunity  to  serve  others  by  any  invention  of  ours; 
and  this  we  should  do  freely  and  generously. 

An  ironmonger  in  London  however,  assuming  a 
good  deal  of  my  pamphlet,  and  working  it  up  into 
his  own,  and  making  some  small  changes  in  the 
machine,  which  rather  hurt  its  operation,  got  a 
patent  for  it  there,  and  made,  as  I  was  told,  a  little 
fortune  by  it.  And  this  is  not  the  only  instance  of 
patents  taken  out  for  my  inventions  by  others,  tho' 
not  always  with  the  same  success,  which  I  never 
contested,  as  having  no  desire  of  profiting  by  patents 
myself,  and  hating  disputes.  The  use  of  these  fire 
places  in  very  many  houses,  both  of  this  and  the 
neighboring  colonies,  has  been,  and  is,  a  great 
saving  of  wood  to  the  inhabitants. 

Peace  being  concluded,  and  the  association  busi 
ness  therefore  at  an  end,  I  turn'd  my  thoughts  again 
to  the  affair  of  establishing  an  academy.  The  first 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  2j$ 

step  I  took  was  to  associate  in  the  design  a  number 
of  active  friends,  of  whom  the  Junto  furnished  a  good 
part ;  the  next  was  to  write  and  publish  a  pamphlet, 
entitled  Proposals  relating  to  the  Education  of 
Youth  in  Pennsylvania.  This  I  distributed  among 
the  principal  inhabitants  gratis  ;  and  as  soon  as  I 
could  suppose  their  minds  a  little  prepared  by  the 
perusal  of  it,  I  set  on  foot  a  subscription  for  opening 
and  supporting  an  academy  :  it  was  to  be  paid  in 
quotas  yearly  for  five  years ;  by  so  dividing  it,  I 
judg'd  the  subscription  might  be  larger,  and  I  be 
lieve  it  was  so,  amounting  to  no  less,  if  I  remember 
right,  than  five  thousand  pounds. 

In  the  introduction  to  these  proposals,  I  stated 
their  publication,  not  as  an  act  of  mine,  but  of  some 
-publick-spirited  gentlemen,  avoiding  as  much  as  I 
could,  according  to  my  usual  rule,  the  presenting 
myself  to  the  publick  as  the  author  of  any  scheme 
for  their  benefit. 

The  subscribers,  to  carry  the  project  into  imme 
diate  execution,  chose  out  of  their  number  twenty- 
four  trustees,  and  appointed  Mr.  Francis,  then  at 
torney-general,  and  myself  to  draw  up  constitutions 
for  the  government  of  the  academy ;  which  being 
done  and  signed,  a  house  was  hired,  masters  en- 
gag'd,  and  the  schools  opened,  I  think,  in  the  same 
year,  1749. 

The  scholars  increasing  fast,  the  house  was  soon 
found  too  small,  and  we  were  looking  out  for  a  piece 
of  ground,  properly  situated,  with  intention  to  build, 


276  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

when  Providence  threw  into  our  way  a  large  house 
ready  built,  which,  with  a  few  alterations,  might 
well  serve  our  purpose.  This  was  the  building  be 
fore  mentioned,  erected  by  the  hearers  of  Mr.  White- 
field,  and  was  obtained  for  us  in  the  following 
manner. 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  the  contributions  to  this 
building  being  made  by  people  of  different  sects, 
care  was  taken  in  the  nomination  of  trustees,  in 
whom  the  building  and  ground  was  to  be  vested, 
that  a  predominancy  should  not  be  given  to  any 
sect,  lest  in  time  that  predominancy  might  be  a 
means  of  appropriating  the  whole  to  the  use  of  such 
sect,  contrary  to  the  original  intention.  It  was  there 
fore  that  one  of  each  sect  was  appointed,  viz.,  one 
Church-of-England  man,  one  Presbyterian,  one 
Baptist,  one  Moravian,  etc.,  those,  in  case  of  va 
cancy  by  death,  were  to  fill  it  by  election  from 
among  the  contributors.  The  Moravian  happen'd 
not  to  please  his  colleagues,  and  on  his  death  they 
resolved  to  have  no  other  of  that  sect.  The  diffi 
culty  then  was,  how  to  avoid  having  two  of  some 
other  sect,  by  means  of  the  new  choice. 

Several  persons  were  named,  and  for  that  reason 
not  agreed  to.  At  length  one  mention'd  me,  with 
the  observation  that  I  was  merely  an  honest  man, 
and  of  no  sect  at  all,  which  prevail'd  with  them  to 
chuse  me.  The  enthusiasm  which  existed  when 
the  house  was  built  had  long  since  abated,  and  its 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  277 

trustees  had  not  been  able  to  procure  fresh  contri 
butions  for  paying  the  ground-rent,  and  discharging 
some  other  debts  the  building  had  occasion'd,  which 
embarrassed  them  greatly.  Being  now  a  member 
of  both  setts  of  trustees,  that  for  the  building  and 
that  for  the  academy,  I  had  a  good  opportunity  of 
negotiating  with  both,  and  brought  them  finally  to 
an  agreement,  by  which  the  trustees  for  the  building 
were  to  cede  it  to  those  of  the  academy,  the  latter 
undertaking  to  discharge  the  debt,  to  keep  for  ever 
open  in  the  building  a  large  hall  for  occasional 
preachers,  according  to  the  original  intention,  and 
maintain  a  free-school  for  the  instruction  of  poor 
children.  Writings  were  accordingly  drawn,  and 
on  paying  the  debts  the  trustees  of  the  academy 
were  put  in  possession  of  the  premises  ;  and  by  di 
viding  the  great  and  lofty  hall  into  stories,  and  dif 
ferent  rooms  above  and  below  for  the  several  schools, 
and  purchasing  some  additional  ground,  the  whole 
was  soon  made  fit  for  our  purpose,  and  the  scholars 
remov'd  into  the  building.  The  care  and  trouble 
of  agreeing  with  the  workmen,  purchasing  materials, 
and  superintending  the  \vork,  fell  upon  me  ;  and  I 
went  thro'  it  the  more  cheerfully,  as  it  did  not  then 
interfere  with  my  private  business,  having  the  year 
before  taken  a  very  able,  industrious,  and  honest 
partner,  Mr.  David  Hall,  with  whose  character  I 
was  well  acquainted,  as  he  had  work'd  for  me  four 
years.  He  took  off  my  hands  all  care  of  the  print 
ing-office,  paying  me  punctually  my  share  of  the 

24 


278  AUTOB1OGRAPIIT  OF 

profits.  This  partnership  continued  eighteen  years, 
successfully  for  us  both. 

The  trustees  of  the  academy,  after  a  while,  were 
incorporated  by  a  charter  from  the  governor ;  their 
funds  were  increas'd  by  contributions  in  Britain  and 
grants  of  land  from  the  proprietaries,  to  which  the 
Assembly  has  since  made  considerable  addition ; 
and  thus  was  established  the  present  University  of 
Philadelphia.  I  have  been  continued  one  of  its 
trustees  from  the  beginning,  now  near  forty  years, 
and  have  had  the  very  great  pleasure  of  seeing  a 
number  of  the  youth  who  have  receiv'd  their  educa 
tion  in  it,  distinguished  by  their  improv'd  abilities, 
serviceable  in  public  stations,  and  ornaments  to  their 
country.* 

When  I  disengaged  myself,  as  above  mentioned, 
from  private  business,  I  flatter'd  myself  that,  by  the 
sufficient  tho'  moderate  fortune  I  had  acquir'd,  I  had 
secured  leisure  during  the  rest  of  my  life  for  philo 
sophical  studies  and  amusements.  I  purchased  all 
Dr.  Spence's  apparatus,  who  had  come  from  Eng 
land  to  lecture  here,  and  I  proceeded  in 'my  elec 
trical  experiments  with  great  alacrity  ;  but  the  pub- 
lick,  now  considering  me  as  a  man  of  leisure,  laid 
hold  of  me  for  their  purposes,  every  part  of  our 


*  The  old  "Academy,"  as  the  building  of  which  Franklin  speaks  was 
called,  has  given  place  to  a  new  and  tasteful  edifice.  For  many  years 
the  new  building  had  been  occupied  as  an  academy,  preparatory  to  the 
University,  commodious  buildings  for  which,  were  erected  in  South 
Ninth  street,  near  Chestnut. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  279 

civil  government,  and  almost  at  the  same  time,  im 
posing  some  duty  upon  me.  The  governor  put  me 
into  the  commission  of  the  peace ;  the  corpora 
tion  of  the  city  chose  me  of  the  common  council, 
and  soon  after  an  alderman  ;  and  the  citizens  at 
large  chose  me  a  burgess  to  represent  them  in 
Assembly.  This  latter  station  was  the  more  agree 
able  to  me,  as  I  was  at  length  tired  with  sitting  there 
to  hear  debates,  in  which,  as  clerk,  I  could  take  no 
part,  and  which  were  often  so  unentertaining  that  I 
was  induc'd  to  amuse  myself  with  making  magic 
squares  or  circles,  or  any  thing  to  avoid  weariness ; 
and  I  conceiv'd  my  becoming  a  member  would 
enlarge  my  power  of  doing  good.  I  would  not, 
however,  insinuate  that  my  ambition  was  not  flatter'd 
by  all  these  promotions  ;  it  certainly  was  ;  for,  con 
sidering  my  low  beginning,  they  were  great  things 
to  me ;  and  they  were  still  more  pleasing,  as  being 
so  many  spontaneous  testimonies  of  the  public  good 
opinion,  and  by  me  entirely  unsolicited. 

The  office  of  justice  of  the  peace  I  try'd  a  little, 
by  attending  a  few  courts,  and  sitting  on  the  bench 
to  hear  causes ;  but  finding  that  more  knowledge  of 
the  common  law  than  I  possess'd  was  necessary  to 
act  in  that  station  with  credit,  I  gradually  withdrew 
from  it,  excusing  myself  by  my  being  oblig'd  to 
attend  the  higher  duties  of  a  legislator  in  the  As 
sembly.  My  election  to  this  trust  was  repeated 
every  year  for  ten  years,  without  my  ever  asking 
any  elector  for  his  vote,  or  signifying,  either  directly 


280  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

or  indirectly,  any  desire  of  being  chosen.  On  tak 
ing  my  seat  in  the  House,  my  son  was  appointed 
their  clerk. 

The  year  following,  a  treaty  being  to  be  held  with 
the  Indians  at  Carlisle,  the  governor  sent  a  message 
to  the  House,  proposing  that  they  should  nominate 
some  of  their  members,  to  be  join'd  with  some 
members  of  council,  as  commissioners  for  that  pur 
pose.*  The  House  named  the  speaker  (Mr.  Nor- 
ris)  and  myself;  and,  being  commission'd,  we  went 
to  Carlisle,  and  met  the  Indians  accordingly. 

As  those  people  are  extreamly  apt  to  get  drunk, 
and,  when  so,  are  very  quarrelsome  and  disorderly, 
we  strictly  forbad  the  selling  any  liquor  to  them ; 
and  when  they  complain'd  of  this  restriction,  we 
told  them  that  if  they  would  continue  sober  during 
the  treaty,  wre  wrould  give  them  plenty  of  rum  when 
business  was  over.  They  promis'd  this,  and  they 
kept  their  promise,  because  they  could  get  no  liquor, 
and  the  treaty  was  conducted  very  orderly,  and  con 
cluded  to  mutual  satisfaction.  They  then  claim'd 
and  receiv'd  the  rum ;  this  wras  in  the  afternoon : 
they  were  near  one  hundred  men,  women,  and  chil 
dren,  and  were  lodg'd  in  temporary  cabins,  built  in 
the  form  of  a  square,  just  without  the  town.  In  the 
evening,  hearing  a  great  noise  among  them,  the 
commissioners  walk'd  out  to  see  what  was  the 
matter.  We  found  they  had  made  a  great  bonfire 


*  See  the  votes  to  have  this  more  correctly.— [Marg.  note.] 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  281 

in  the  middle  of  the  square ;  they  were  all  drunk, 
men  and  women,  quarreling  and  fighting.  Their 
dark-coloured  bodies,  half  naked,  seen  only  by  the 
gloomy  light  of  the  bonfire,  running  after  and  beat 
ing  one  another  with  firebrands,  accompanied  by 
their  horrid  yellings,  form'd  a  scene  the  most  resem 
bling  our  ideas  of  hell  that  could  well  be  imagin'd ; 
there  was  no  appeasing  the  tumult,  and  we  retired 
to  our  lodging.  At  midnight  a  number  of  them 
came  thundering  at  our  door,  demanding  more  rum, 
of  which  we  took  no  notice. 

The  next  day,  sensible  they  had  misbehav'd  in 
giving  us  that  disturbance,  they  sent  three  of  their 
old  counselors  to  make  their  apology.  The  orator 
acknowledg'd  the  fault,  but  laid  it  upon  the  rum  ; 
and  then  endeavored  to  excuse  the  rum  by  saying, 
"The  Great  Spirit,  who  made  all  things,  made 
every  thing  for  some  use,  and  whatever  use  he  de 
sign 'd  any  thing  for,  that  use  it  shotild  always  be 
-put  to.  Now,  when  he  made  rum,  he  said,  'Let 
this  be  for  the  Indians  to  get  drunk  with,'  and  it 
must  be  so."  And,  indeed,  if  it  be  the  design  of 
Providence  to  extirpate  these  savages  in  order  to 
make  room  for  cultivators  of  the  earth,  it  seems  not 
improbable  that  rum  may  be  the  appointed  means. 
It  has  already  annihilated  all  the  tribes  who  formerly 
inhabited  the  sea-coast. 

In  1751,  Dr.  Thomas  Bond,  a  particular  friend 
of  mine,  conceived  the  idea  of  establishing  a  hos- 

O 

pital    in   Philadelphia    (a  very    beneficent    design, 

24  * 


282  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

which  has  been  ascrib'd  to  me,  but  was  originally 
his),  for  the  reception  and  cure  of  poor  sick  persons, 
whether  inhabitants  of  the  province  or  strangers. 
He  was  zealous  and  active  in  endeavouring  to  pro 
cure  subscriptions  for  it,  but  the  proposal  being  a 
novelty  in  America,  and  at  first  not  well  understood, 
he  met  but  with  small  success. 

At  length  he  came  to  me  with  the  compliment 
that  he  found  there  was  no  such  thing  as  carrying 
a  public-spirited  project  through  without  my  being 
concern'd  in  it.  "  For,"  says  he,  "  I  am  often  ask'd 
by  those  to  whom  I  propose  subscribing,  Have  you 
consulted  Franklin  upon  this  business?  And  what 
does  he  think  of  it?  And  when  I  tell  them  that  I 
have  not  (supposing  it  rather  out  of  your  line),  they 
do  not  subscribe,  but  say  they  will  consider  of  it." 
I  enquired  into  the  nature  and  probable  utility  of  his 
scheme,  and  receiving  from  him  a  very  satisfactory 
explanation,  I  not  only  subscrib'd  to  it  myself,  but 
engag'd  heartily  in  the  design  of  procuring  sub 
scriptions  from  others.  Previously,  however,  to  the 
solicitation,  I  endeavoured  to  prepare  the  minds  of 
the  people  by  writing  on  the  subject  in  the  news 
papers,  which  was  my  usual  custom  in  such  cases, 
but  which  he  had  omitted. 

The  subscriptions  afterwards  were  more  free  and 
generous ;  but,  beginning  to  flag,  I  saw  they  would 
be  insufficient  without  some  assistance  from  the  As 
sembly,  and  therefore  proposed  to  petition  for  it, 
which  was  done.  The  country  members  did  not  at 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  283 

first  relish  the  project ;  they  objected  that  it  could 
only  be  serviceable  to  the  city,  and  therefore  the 
citizens  alone  should  be  at  the  expense  of  it ;  and 
they  doubted  whether  the  citizens  themselves  gen 
erally  approv'd  of  it.  My  allegation  on  the  con 
trary,  that  it  met  with  such  approbation  as  to  leave 
no  doubt  of  our  being  able  to  raise  two  thousand 
pounds  by  voluntary  donations,  they  considered  as 
a  most  extravagant  supposition,  and  utterly  impos 
sible. 

On  this  I  form'd  my  plan ;  and,  asking  leave  to 
bring  in  a  bill  for  incorporating  the  contributors  ac 
cording  to  the  prayer  of  their  petition,  and  granting 
them  a  blank  sum  of  money,  which  leave  was  ob 
tained  chiefly  on  the  consideration  that  the  House 
could  throw  the  bill  out  if  they  did  not  like  it,  I 
drew  it  so  as  to  make  the  important  clause  a  condi 
tional  one,  viz.,  "And  be  it  enacted,  by  the  autho 
rity  aforesaid,  that  when  the  said  contributors  shall 
have  met  and  chosen  their  managers  and  treasurer, 
and  shall  have  raised  by  their  contributions  a  capi 
tal  stock  of value  (the  yearly  interest  of 

which  is  to  be  applied  to  the  accommodating  of 
the  sick  poor  in  the  said  hospital,  free  of  charge 
for  diet,  attendance,  advice,  and  medicines),  and 
shall  make  the  same  appear  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  speaker  of  the  Assembly  for  the  time  being, 
that  then  it  shall  and  may  be  lawful  for  the  said 
speaker,  and  he  is  hereby  required,  to  sign  an  order 
on  the  provincial  treasurer  for  the  payment  of  two 


284  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

thousand  pounds,  in  two  yearly  payments,  to  the 
treasurer  of  the  said  hospital,  to  be  applied  to  the 
founding,  building,  and  finishing  of  the  same." 

This  condition  carried  the  bill  through  ;  for  the 
members,  who  had  oppos'd  the  grant,  and  now  con- 
ceiv'd  they  might  have  the  credit  of  being  charita 
ble  without  the  expence,  agreed  to  its  passage  ;  and 
then,  in  soliciting  subscriptions  among  the  people, 
we  urg'd  the  conditional  promise  of  the  law  as  an 
additional  motive  to  give,  since  every  man's  dona 
tion  would  be  doubled ;  thus  the  clause  work'd  both 
ways.  The  subscriptions  accordingly  soon  exceed 
ed  the  requisite  sum,  and  we  claim'd  and  receiv'd 
the  public  gift,  which  enabled  us  to  carry  the  design 
into  execution.  A  convenient  and  handsome  build 
ing  was  soon  erected ;  the  institution  has  by  constant 
experience  been  found  useful,  and  flourishes  to  this 
day  ;  and  I  do  not  remember  any  of  my  political 
manoeuvres,  the  success  of  which  gave  me  at  the 
time  more  pleasure,  or  wherein,  after  thinking  of  it, 
I  more  easily  excus'd  myself  for  having  made  some 
use  of  cunning. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  another  projector, 
the  Rev.  Gilbert  Tennent,  came  to  me  with  a  re 
quest  that  I  would  assist  him  in  procuring  a  sub 
scription  for  erecting  a  new  meeting-house.  It  was 
to  be  for  the  use  of  a  congregation  he  had  gathered 
among  the  Presbyterians,  who  were  originally  dis 
ciples  of  Mr.  Whitefield.  Unwilling  to  make  my 
self  disagreeable  to  my  fellow-citizens  by  too  fre- 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  285 

quently  soliciting  their  contributions,  I  absolutely 
refus'd.  He  then  desired  I  would  furnish  him  with 
a  list  of  the  names  of  persons  I  knew  by  experience 
to  be  generous  and  public-spirited.  I  thought  it 
would  be  unbecoming  in  me,  after  their  kind  com 
pliance  with  my  solicitations,  to  mark  them  out  to 
be  worried  by  other  beggars,  and  therefore  refus'd 
also  to  give  such  a  list.  He  then  desir'd  I  would 
at  least  give  him  my  advice.  "  That  I  will  readily 
do,"  said  I ;  "  and,  in  the  first  place,  I  advise  you  to 
apply  to  all  those  whom  you  know  will  give  some 
thing  ;  next,  to  those  whom  you  are  uncertain 
whether  they  will  give  any  thing  or  not,  and  show 
them  the  list  of  those  who  have  given ;  and,  lastly, 
do  not  neglect  those  who  you  are  sure  will  give 
nothing,  for  in  some  of  them  you  may  be  mistaken." 
He  laugh'd  and  thank'd  me,  and  said  he  would  take 
my  advice.  He  did  so,  for  he  ask'd  of  everybody ', 
and  he  obtain'd  a  much  larger  sum  than  he  expected, 
with  which  he  erected  the  capacious  and  very  ele 
gant  meeting-house  that  stands  in  Arch-street. 

Our  city,  tho'  laid  out  with  a  beautifull  regularity; 
the  streets  large,  strait,  and  crossing  each  othei 
at  right  angles,  had  the  disgrace  of  suffering  those 
streets  to  remain  long  unpav'd,  and  in  wet  weather 
the  \vheels  of  heavy  carriages  plough'd  them  into  a 
quagmire,  so  that  it  was  difficult  to  cross  them ;  and 
in  dry  weather  the  dust  was  offensive.  I  had  liv'd 
near  \vhat  was  calPd  the  Jersey  Market,  and  saw 
with  pain  the  inhabitants  wading  in  mud  while 


286  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

purchasing  their  provisions.  A  strip  of  ground 
down  the  middle  of  that  market  was  at  length  pav'd 
with  brick,  so  that,  being  once  in  the  market,  they 
had  firm  footing,  but  were  often  over  shoes  in  dirt 
to  get  there.  By  talking  and  writing  on  the  subject, 
I  was  at  length  instrumental  in  getting  the  street 
pav'd  with  stone  between  the  market  and  the  brick'd 
foot-pavement,  that  was  on  each  side  next  the 
houses.  This,  for  some  time,  gave  an  easy  access 
to  the  market  dry-shod ;  but,  the  rest  of  the  street 
not  being  pav'd,  whenever  a  carriage  came  out  of 
the  mud  upon  this  pavement,  it  shook  off  and  left 
its  dirt  upon  it,  and  it  was  soon  cover'd  w-ith  mire, 
which  was  not  remov'd,  the  city  as  yet  having  no 
scavengers. 

After  some  inquiry,  I  found  a  poor,  industrious 
man,  who  was  willing  to  undertake  keeping  the 
pavement  clean,  by  sweeping  it  twice  a  week,  carry 
ing  off  the  dirt  from  before  all  the  neighbours'  doors, 
for  the  sum  of  sixpence  per  month,  to  be  paid  by 
each  house.  I  then  wrote  and  printed  a  paper 
setting  forth  the  advantages  to  the  neighbourhood 
that  might  be  obtain'd  by  this  small  expense ;  the 
greater  ease  in  keeping  our  houses  clean,  so  much 
dirt  not  being  brought  in  by  people's  feet ;  the  bene 
fit  to  the  shops  by  more  custom,  etc.,  etc.,  as  buyers 
could  more  easily  get  at  them  ;  and  by  not  having, 
in  windy  weather,  the  dust  blown  in  upon  their 
goods,  etc.,  etc.  I  sent  one  of  these  papers  to  each 
house,  and  in  a  day  or  two  went  round  to  see  who 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  287 

would  subscribe  an  agreement  to  pay  these  six 
pences  ;  it  was  unanimously  sign'd,  and  for  a  time 
well  executed.  All  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  were 
delighted  with  the  cleanliness  of  the  pavement  that 
surrounded  the  market,  it  being  a  convenience  to 
all,  and  this  rais'd  a  general  desire  to  have  all  the 
streets  paved,  and  made  the  people  more  willing  to 
submit  to  a  tax  for  that  purpose. 

After  some  time  I  drew  a  bill  for  paving  the  city, 
and  brought  it  into  the  Assembly.  It  was  just  be 
fore  I  went  to  England,  in  1757,  and  did  not  pass 
till  I  was  gone,*  and  then  with  an  alteration  in  the 
mode  of  assessment,  which  I  thought  not  for  the 
better,  but  with  an  additional  provision  for  lighting 
as  well  as  paving  the  streets,  which  was  a  great  im 
provement.  It  was  by  a  private  person,  the  late 
Mr.  John  Clifton,  his  giving  a  sample  of  the  utility 
of  lamps,  by  placing  one  at  his  door,  that  the  people 
were  first  impress'd  with  the  idea  of  enlighting  all  the 
city.  The  honour  of  this  public  benefit  has  also  been 
ascrib'd  to  me,  but  it  belongs  truly  to  that  gentle 
man.  I  did  but  follow  his  example,  and  have  only 
some  merit  to  claim  respecting  the  form  of  our 
lamps,  as  differing  from  the  globe  lamps  we  were 
at  first  supply 'd  with  from  London.  Those  we 
found  inconvenient  in  these  respects  :  they  admitted 
no  air  below  ;  the  smoke,  therefore,  did  not  readily 
go  out  above,  but  circulated  in  the  globe,  lodg'd  on 


*  See  votes. 


288  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

its  inside,  and  soon  obstructed  the  light  they  were 
intended  to  afford  ;  giving,  besides,  the  daily  trouble 
of  wiping  them  clean  ;  and  an  accidental  stroke  on 
one  of  them  would  demolish  it,  and  render  it  totally 
useless.  I  therefore  suggested  the  composing  them 
of  four  flat  panes,  with  a  long  funnel  above  to  draw 
up  the  smoke,  and  crevices  admitting  air  below,  to 
facilitate  the  ascent  of  the  smoke ;  by  this  means 
they  were  kept  clean,  and  did  not  grow  dark  in  a 
few  hours,  as  the  London  lamps  do,  but  continu'd 
bright  till  morning,  and  an  accidental  stroke  would 
generally  break  but  a  single  pane,  easily  repair'd. 

I  have  sometimes  wonder'd  that  the  Londoners 
did  not,  from  the  effect  holes  in  the  bottom  of  the 
globe  lamps  us'd  at  Vauxhall  have  in  keeping  them 
clean,  learn  to  have  such  holes  in  their  street  lamps. 
But,  these  holes  being  made  for  another  purpose, 
viz.,  to  communicate  flame  more  suddenly  to  the 
wick  by  a  little  flax  hanging  down  thro'  them,  the 
other  use,  of  letting  in  air,  seems  not  to  have  been 
thought  of;  and  therefore,  after  the  lamps  have  been 
lit  a  few  hours,  the  streets  of  London  are  very 
poorly  illuminated. 

The  mention  of  these  improvements  puts  me  in 
mind  of  one  I  propos'd,  when  in  London,  to  Dr. 
Fothergill,  who  was  among  the  best  men  I  have 
known,  and  a  great  promoter  of  useful  projects.  I 
had  observ'd  that  the  streets,  when  dry,  were  never 
swept,  and  the  light  dust  carried  away ;  but  it  was 
sufFer'd  to  accumulate  till  wet  weather  reduc'd  it  to 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  289 

mud,  and  then,  after  lying  some  days  so  deep  on 
the  pavement  that  there  was  no  crossing  but  in  paths 
kept  clean  by  poor  people  with  brooms,  it  was  with 
great  labour  rak'd  together  and  thrown  up  into  carts 
open  above,  the  sides  of  which  suffer'd  some  of  the 
slush  at  every  jolt  on  the  pavement  to  shake  out 
and  fall,  sometimes  to  the  annoyance  of  foot-pas 
sengers.  The  reason  given  for  not  sweeping  the 
dusty  streets  was,  that  the  dust  would  fly  into  the 
windows  of  shops  and  houses. 

An  accidental  occurrence  had  instructed  me  how 
much  sweeping  might  be  done  in  a  little  time.  I 
found  at  my  door  in  Craven-street,  one  morning,  a 
poor  woman  sweeping  my  pavement  with  a  birch 
broom  ;  she  appeared  very  pale  and  feeble,  as  just 
come  out  of  a  fit  of  sickness.  I  ask'd  who  employ'd 
her  to  sweep  there ;  she  said,  "  Nobody ;  but  I  am 
very  poor  and  in  distress,  and  I  sweeps  before  gen- 
tlefolkses  doors,  and  hopes  they  will  give  me  some 
thing."  I  bid  her  sweep  the  whole  street  clean,  and 
I  would  give  her  a  shilling  ;  this  was  at  nine  o'clock  ; 
at  12  she  came  for  the  shilling.  From  the  slow 
ness  I  saw  at  first  in  her  working,  I  could  scarce 
believe  that  the  work  was  done  so  soon,  and  sent 
my  servant  to  examine  it,  who  reported  that  the 
whole  street  was  swept  perfectly  clean,  and  all  the 
dust  plac'd  in  the  gutter,  which  was  in  the  middle  ; 
and  the  next  rain  wash'd  it  quite  away,  so  that  the 
pavement  and  even  the  kennel  were  perfectly 
clean. 

25  X 


290  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

I  then  judg'd  that,  if  that  feeble  woman  could 
sweep  such  a  street  in  three  hours,  a  strong,  active 
man  might  have  done  it  in  half  the  time.  And  here 
let  me  remark  the  convenience  of  having  but  one 
gutter  in  such  a  narrow  street,  running  clown  its 
middle,  instead  of  two,  one  on  each  side,  near  the 
footway  ;  for  where  all  the  rain  that  falls  on  a  street 
runs  from  the  sides  and  meets  in  the  middle,  it  forms 
there  a  current  strong  enough  to  wash  away  all  the 
mud  it  meets  with  ;  but  when  divided  into  two  chan 
nels,  it  is  often  too  weak  to  cleanse  either,  and  only 
makes  the  mud  it  finds  more  fluid,  so  that  the 
wheels  of  carriages  and  feet  of  horses  throw  and 
dash  it  upon  the  foot-pavement,  which  is  thereby 
rendered  foul  and  slippery,  and  sometimes  splash  it 
upon  those  who  are  walking.  My  proposal,  com 
municated  to  the  good  doctor,  was  as  follows  : 

"For  the  more  effectual  cleaning  and  keeping 
clean  the  streets  of  London  and  Westminster,  it  is 
proposed  that  the  several  watchmen  be  contracted 
with  to  have  the  dust  swept  up  in  dry  seasons,  and 
the  mud  rak'd  up  at  other  times,  each  in  the  several 
streets  and  lanes  of  his  round  ;  that  they  be  furnish'd 
with  brooms  and  other  proper  instruments  for  these 
purposes,  to  be  kept  at  their  respective  stands,  ready 
to  furnish  the  poor  people  they  may  employ  in  the 
service. 

"  That  in  the  dry  summer  months  the  dust  be  all 
swept  up  into  heaps  at  proper  distances,  before  the 
shops  and  windows  of  houses  are  usually  opened, 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  291 

when  the  scavengers,  with  close-covered  carts,  shall 
also  carry  it  all  away. 

"  That  the  mud,  when  rak'd  up,  be  not  left  in 
heaps  to  be  spread  abroad  again  by  the  wheels  of 
carriages  and  trampling  of  horses,  but  that  the  scav 
engers  be  provided  with  bodies  of  carts,  not  plac'd 
high  upon  wheels,  but  low  upon  sliders,  with  lattice 
bottoms,  which,  being  cover'd  with  straw,  will  re 
tain  the  mud  thrown  into  them,  and  permit  the 
water  to  drain  from  it,  whereby  it  will  become  much 
lighter,  water  making  the  greatest  part  of  its  weight ; 
these  bodies  of  carts  to  be  plac'd  at  convenient 
distances,  and  the  mud  brought  to  them  in  wheel 
barrows  ;  they  remaining  where  plac'd  till  the  mud 
is  drain'd,  and  then  horses  brought  to  draw  them 
away." 

I  have  since  had  doubts  of  the  practicability  of 
the  latter  part  of  this  proposal,  on  account  of  the 
narrowness  of  some  streets,  and  the  difficulty  of 
placing  the  draining-sleds  so  as  not  to  encumber  too 
much  the  passage ;  but  I  am  still  of  opinion  that 
the  former,  requiring  the  dust  to  be  swept  up  and 
carry'd  away  before  the  shops  are  open,  is  very 
practicable  in  the  summer,  when  the  days  are  long ; 
for,  in  walking  thro'  the  Strand  and  Fleet-street  one 
morning  at  seven  o'clock,  I  observ'd  there  was  not 
one  shop  open,  tho'  it  had  been  daylight  and  the 
sun  up  above  three  hours  ;  the  inhabitants  of  London 
chusing  voluntarily  to  live  much  by  candle-light, 
and  sleep  by  sunshine,  and  yet  often  complain,  a 


292  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

little  absurdly,  of  the  duty  on  candles,  and  the  high 
price  of  tallow. 

Some  may  think  these  trifling  matters  not  worth 
minding  or  relating ;  but  when  they  consider  that 
tho'  dust  blown  into  the  eyes  of  a  single  person, 
or  into  a  single  shop  on  a  windy  day,  is  but  of  small 
importance,  yet  the  great  number  of  the  instances 
in  a  populous  city,  and  its  frequent  repetitions  give  it 
weight  and  consequence,  perhaps  they  will  not  cen 
sure  very  severely  those  who  bestow  some  attention 
to  affairs  of  this  seemingly  low  nature.  Human 
felicity  is  produc'd  not  so  much  by  great  pieces  of 
good  fortune  that  seldom  happen,  as  by  little  advan 
tages  that  occur  every  day.  Thus,  if  you  teach  a 
poor  young  man  to  shave  himself,  and  keep  his 
razor  in  order,  you  may  contribute  more  to  the  hap 
piness  of  his  life  than  in  giving  him  a  thousand 
guineas.  The  money  may  be  soon  spent,  the  regret 
only  remaining  of  having  foolishly  consumed  it ; 
but  in  the  other  case,  he  escapes  the  frequent  vexa 
tion  of  waiting  for  barbers,  and  of  their  sometimes 
dirty  fingers,  offensive  breaths,  and  dull  razors ;  he 
shaves  when  most  convenient  to  him,  and  enjoys 
daily  the  pleasure  of  its  being  done  with  a  good 
instrument.  With  these  sentiments  I  have  hazarded 
the  few  preceding  pages,  hoping  they  may  afford 
hints  which  some  time  or  other  may  be  useful  to  a 
city  I  love,  having  lived  many  years  in  it  very 
happily,  and  perhaps  to  some  of  our  towns  in 
America. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  293 

Having  been  for  some  time  employed  by  the  post 
master-general  of  America  as  his  comptroller  in 
regulating  several  offices,  and  bringing  the  officers 
to  account,  I  was,  upon  his  death  in  1753,  appointed, 
jointly  with  Mr.  William  Hunter,  to  succeed  him, 
by  a  commission  from  the  postmaster-general  in 
England.  The  American  office  never  had  hitherto 
paid  any  thing  to  that  of  Britain.  We  were  to  have 
six  hundred  pounds  a  year  between  us,  if  we  could 
make  that  sum  out  of  the  profits  of  the  office.  To 
do  this,  a  variety  of  improvements  were  necessary ; 
some  of  these  were  inevitably  at  first  expensive,  so 
that  in  the  first  four  years  the  office  became  above 
nine  hundred  pounds  in  debt  to  us.  But  it  soon 
after  began  to  repay  us  ;  and  before  I  was  displac'd 
by  a  freak  of  the  ministers,  of  which  I  shall  speak 
hereafter,  we  had  brought  it  to  yield  three  times  as 
much  clear  revenue  to  the  crown  as  the  postoffice 
of  Ireland.  Since  that  imprudent  transaction,  they 
have  receiv'd  from  it — not  one  farthing  ! 

The  business  of  the  postoffice  occasion'd  my 
taking  a  journey  this  year  to  New  England,  where 
the  College  of  Cambridge,  of  their  own  motion,  pre 
sented  me  with  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts.  Yale 
College,  in  Connecticut,  had  before  made  me  a 
similar  compliment.  Thus,  without  studying  in  any 
college,  I  came  to  partake  of  their  honours.  They 
were  conferr'd  in  consideration  of  my  improvements 
and  discoveries  in  the  electric  branch  of  natural  phi 
losophy. 


294  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

In  1754,  war  with  France  being  again  appre 
hended,  a  congress  of  commissioners  from  the  differ 
ent  colonies  was,  by  an  order  of  the  Lords  of  Trade, 
to  be  assembled  at  Albany,  there  to  confer  with  the 
chiefs  of  the  Six  Nations  concerning  the  means  of 
defending  both  their  country  and  ours.  Governor 
Hamilton,  having  receiv'd  this  order,  acquainted  the 
House  with  it,  requesting  they  would  furnish  proper 
presents  for  the  Indians,  to  be  given  on  this  occa 
sion ;  and  naming  the  speaker  (Mr.  Norris)  and 
myself  to  join  Mr.  Thomas  Penn  and  Mr.  Secretary 
Peters  as  commissioners  to  act  for  Pennsylvania. 
The  House  approv'd  the  nomination,  and  provided 
the  goods  for  the  present,  and  tho'  they  did  not  much 
like  treating  out  of  the  provinces ;  and  we  met  the 
other  commissioners  at  Albany  about  the  middle  of 
June. 

In  our  way  thither,  I  projected  and  drew  a  plan 
for  the  union  of  all  the  colonies  under  one  govern 
ment,  so  far  as  might  be  necessary  for  defense,  and 
other  important  general  purposes.  As  we  pass'd 
thro'  New  York,  I  had  there  shown  my  project  to 
Mr.  James  Alexander  and  Mr.  Kennedy,  two  gen 
tlemen  of  great  knowledge  in  public  affairs,  and, 
being  fortified  by  their  approbation,  I  ventur'd  to 
lay  it  before  the  Congress.  It  then  appeared  that 
several  of  the  commissioners  had  form'd  plans  of 
the  same  kind.  A  previous  question  was  first  taken, 
whether  a  union  should  be  established,  which  pass'd 


BENJAMIN  FRANK  LIN.  295 

in  the  affirmative  unanimously.  A  committee  was 
then  appointed,  one  member  from  each  colony,  to 
consider  the  several  plans  and  report.  Mine  hap- 
pen'd  to  be  preferr'd,  and,  with  a  few  amendments, 
was  accordingly  reported. 

By  this  plan  the  general  government  \vas  to  be 
administered  by  a  president-general,  appointed  and 
supported  by  the  crown,  and  a  grand  council  was 
to  be  chosen  by  the  representatives  of  the  people 
of  the  several  colonies,  met  in  their  respective  as 
semblies.  The  debates  upon  it  in  Congress  went 
on  daily,  hand  in  hand  with  the  Indian  business. 
Many  objections  and  difficulties  were  started,  but  at 
length  they  wrere  all  overcome,  and  the  plan  was 
unanimously  agreed  to,  and  copies  ordered  to  be 
transmitted  to  the  Board  of  Trade  and  to  the  assem 
blies  of  the  several  provinces.  Its  fate  was  singu 
lar  :  the  assemblies  did  not  adopt  it,  as  they  all 
thought  there  was  too  much  -prerogative  in  it,  and 
in  England  it  was  judg'd  to  have  too  much  of  the 
democratic.  The  Board  of  Trade  therefore  did  not 
approve  of  it,  nor  recommend  it  for  the  approbation 
of  his  majesty  ;  but  another  scheme  was  form'd, 
supposed  to  answer  the  same  purpose  better,  where 
by  the  governors  of  the  provinces,  with  some  mem 
bers  of  their  respective  councils,  were  to  meet  and 
order  the  raising  of  troops,  building  of  forts,  etc., 
and  to  draw  on  the  treasury  of  Great  Britain  for  the 
expense,  which  was  afterwards  to  be  refunded  by 
an  act  of  Parliament  laying  a  tax  on  America.  My 


296  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

plan,  with  my  reasons  in  support  of  it,  is  to  be  found 
among  my  political  papers  that  are  printed.* 

Being  the  winter  following  in  Boston,  I  had  much 
conversation  with  Governor  Shirley  upon  both  the 
plans.  Part  of  what  passed  between  us  on  the  oc 
casion  may  also  be  seen  among  those  papers.  The 
different  and  contrary  reasons  of  dislike  to  my  plan 
makes  me  suspect  that  it  was  really  the  true  me 
dium  ;  and  I  am  still  of  opinion  it  would  have  been 
happy  for  both  sides  the  water  if  it  had  been  adopted. 
The  colonies,  so  united,  would  have  been  sufficiently 
strong  to  have  defended  themselves  ;  there  would 
then  have  been  no  need  of  troops  from  England ; 
of  course,  the  subsequent  pretence  for  taxing  Ame 
rica,  and  the  bloody  contest  it  occasioned,  would 
have  been  avoided.  But  such  mistakes  are  not 
new :  history  is  full  of  the  errors  of  states  and 
princes. 

"  Look  round  the  habitable  world,  how  few 
Know  their  own  good,  or,  knowing  it,  pursue  !" 

Those  who  govern,  having  much  business  on 
their  hands,  do  not  generally  like  to  take  the  trouble 
of  considering  and  carrying  into  execution  new 
projects.  The  best  public  measures  are  therefore 
seldom  adopted  from  previous  wisdom,  but  fore' d 
by  the  occasion. 

The  Governor  of  Pennsylvania,  in  sending  it 
down  to  the  Assembly,  express'd  his  approbation 


See  Sparks'  Works  of  Franklin,  vol.  iii.  pp.  22-55. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  297 

of  the  plan,  "  as  appearing  to  him  to  be  drawn  up 
with  great  clearness  and  strength  of  judgment,  and 
therefore  recommended  it  as  well  worthy  of  their 
closest  and  most  serious  attention."  The  House, 
however,  by  the  management  of  a  certain  member, 
took  it  up  when  I  happen'd  to  be  absent,  which  I 
thought  not  very  fair,  and  reprobated  it  without 
paying  any  attention  to  it  at  all,  to  my  no  small 
mortification. 

In  my  journey  to  Boston  this  year,  I  met  at  New 
York  with  our  new  governor,  Mr.  Morris,  just 
arriv'd  there  from  England,  with  whom  I  had  been 
before  intimately  acquainted.  He  brought  a  com 
mission  to  supersede  Mr.  Hamilton,  who,  tir'd  with 
the  disputes  his  proprietary  instructions  subjected 
him  to,  had  resigned.  Mr.  Morris  ask'd  me  if  I 
thought  he  must  expect  as  uncomfortable  an  admin 
istration.  I  said,  "No;  you  may,  on  the  contrary, 
have  a  very  comfortable  one,  if  you  will  only  take 
care  not  to  enter  into  any  dispute  with  the  Assem 
bly."  "My  dear  friend,"  says  he,  pleasantly,  "how 
can  you  advise  my  avoiding  disputes?  You  know 
I  love  disputing  ;  it  is  one  of  my  greatest  pleasures  ; 
however,  to  show  the  regard  I  have  for  your  coun 
sel,  I  promise  you  I  will,  if  possible,  avoid  them." 
He  had  some  reason  for  loving  to  dispute,  being 
eloquent,  an  acute  sophister,  and,  therefore,  gene 
rally  successful  in  argumentative  conversation.  He 
had  been  brought  up  to  it  from  a  boy,  his  father,  as 
I  have  heard,  accustoming  his  children  to  dispute 

N  * 


298  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

with  one  another  for  his  diversion,  while  sitting  at 
table  after  dinner ;  but  I  think  the  practice  was  not 
wise ;  for,  in  the  course  of  my  observation,  these 
disputing,  contradicting,  and  confuting  people  are 
generally  unfortunate  in  their  affairs.  They  get 
victory  sometimes,  but  they  never  get  good  will, 
which  would  be  of  more  use  to  them.  We  parted, 
he  going  to  Philadelphia,  and  I  to  Boston. 

In  returning,  I  met  at  New  York  with  the  votes 
of  the  Assembly,  by  which  it  appear'd  that,  notwith 
standing  his  promise  to  me,  he  and  the  House  were 
already  in  high  contention  ;  and  it  was  a  continual 
battle  between  them  as  long  as  he  retain'd  the  gov 
ernment.  I  had  my  share  of  it ;  for,  as  soon  as  I 
got  back  to  my  seat  in  the  Assembly,  I  was  put  on 
every  committee  for  answering  his  speeches  and 
messages,  and  by  the  committees  always  desired  to 
make  the  drafts.  Our  answers,  as  well  as  his  mes 
sages,  were  often  tart,  and  sometimes  indecently 
abusive  ;  and,  as  he  knew  I  wrote  for  the  Assembly, 
one  might  have  imagined  that,  when  we  met,  we 
could  hardly  avoid  cutting  throats ;  but  he  was  so 
good-natur'd  a  man  that  no  personal  difference  be 
tween  him  and  me  was  occasion'd  by  the  contest, 
and  we  often  din'd  together. 

One  afternoon,  in  the  height  of  this  public  quar 
rel,  we  met  in  the  street.  "Franklin,"  says  he, 
"you  must  go  home  with  me  and  spend  the  even 
ing  ;  I  am  to  have  some  company  that  you  will 
like;"  and,  taking  me  by  the  arm,  he  led  me  to  his 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  299 

house.  In  gay  conversation  over  our  wine,  after 
supper,  he  told  us,  jokingly,  that  he  much  admir'd 
the  idea  of  Sancho  Panza,  who,  when  it  was  pro 
posed  to  give  him  a  government,  requested  it  might 
be  a  government  of  blacks,  as  then,  if  he  could  not 
agree  with  his  people,  he  might  sell  them.  One  of 
his  friends,  who  sat  next  to  me,  says,  "Franklin, 
why  do  you  continue  to  side  with  these  damn'd 
Quakers?  Had  not  you  better  sell  them?  The 
proprietor  \vould  give  you  a  good  price."  "The 
governor,"  says  I,  "  has  not  yet  blacked  them 
enough."  He,  indeed,  had  labored  hard  to  blacken 
the  Assembly  in  all  his  messages,  but  they  wip'd 
off  his  coloring  as  fast  as  he  laid  it  on,  and  plac'd 
it,  in  return,  thick  upon  his  own  face ;  so  that,  find 
ing  he  was  likely  to  be  negrofied  himself,  he,  as 
well  as  Mr.  Hamilton,  grew  tir'd  of  the  contest,  and 
quitted  the  government. 

*  These  public  quarrels  were  all  at  bottom  owing 
to  the  proprietaries,  our  hereditary  governors,  who, 
when  any  expense  was  to  be  incurred  for  the  de 
fense  of  their  province,  with  incredible  meanness 
instructed  their  deputies  to  pass  no  act  for  levying 
the  necessary  taxes,  unless  their  vast  estates  were 
in  the  same  act  expressly  excused ;  and  they  had 
even  taken  bonds  of  these  deputies  to  observe 
such  instructions.  The  Assemblies  for  three  years 
held  out  against  this  injustice,  tho'  constrained  to 


*  My  acts  in  Morris's  time,  military,  etc. — \_Marg.  note.] 


300  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

bend  at  last.  At  length  Captain  Denny,  who  was 
Governor  Morris's  successor,  ventured  to  disobey 
those  instructions  :  how  that  was  brought  about  I 
shall  show  hereafter. 

But  I  am  got  forward  too  fast  with-  my  story  : 
there  are  still  some  transactions  to  be  mention'd  that 
happened  during  the  administration  of  Governor 
Morris. 

War  being  in  a  manner  commenced  with  France, 
the  government  of  Massachusetts  Bay  projected  an 
attack  upon  Crown  Point,  and  sent  Mr.  Quincy  to 
Pennsylvania,  and  Mr.  Pownall,  afterward  Governor 
Pownall,  to  New  York,  to  solicit  assistance.  As  I 
was  in  the  Assembly,  knew  its  temper,  and  was  Mr. 
Quincy's  countryman,  he  appli'd  to  me  for  my  in 
fluence  and  assistance.  I  dictated  his  address  to 
them,  which  was  well  receiv'd.  They  voted  an  aid 
of  ten  thousand  pounds,  to  be  laid  out  in  provisions. 
But  the  governor  refusing  his  assent  to  their  bill 
(which  included  this  with  other  sums  granted  for 
the  use  of  the  crown),  unless  a  clause  were  inserted 
exempting  the  proprietary  estate  from  bearing  any 
part  of  the  tax  that. would  be  necessary,  the  Assem 
bly,  tho'  very  desirous  of  making  their  grant  to  New 
England  effectual,  were  at  a  loss  how  to  accomplish 
it.  Mr.  Quincy  labored  hard  with  the  governor  to 
obtain  his  assent,  but  he  was  obstinate. 

I  then  suggested  a  method  of  doing  the  business 
without  the  governor,  by  orders  on  the  trustees  of 
the  Loan  Office,  which,  by  law,  the  Assembly  had 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  301 

the  right  of  drawing.  There  was,  indeed,  little  or 
no  money  at  that  time  in  the  office,  and  therefore  I 
proposed  that  the  orders  should  be  payable  in  a  year, 
and  to  bear  an  interest  of  five  per  cent.  With  these 
orders  I  suppos'd  the  provisions  might  easily  be 
purchas'd.  The  Assembly,  with  very  little  hesita 
tion,  adopted  the  proposal.  The  orders  were  imme 
diately  printed,  and  I  was  one  of  the  committee 
directed  to  sign  and  dispose  of  them.  The  fund 
for  paying  them  was  the  interest  of  all  the  paper 
currency  then  extant  in  the  province  upon  loan, 
together  with  the  revenue  arising  from  the  excise, 
which  being  known  to  be  more  than  sufficient,  they 
obtain'd  instant  credit,  and  were  not  only  receiv'd 
in  payment  for  the  provisions,  but  many  money'd 
people,  who  had  cash  lying  by  them,  vested  it  in 
those  orders,  which  they  found  advantageous,  as 
they  bore  interest  \vhile  upon  hand,  and  might  on 
any  occasion  be  used  as  money ;  so  that  they  were 
eagerly  all  bought  up,  and  in  a  few  weeks  none  of 
them  were  to  be  seen.  Thus  this  important  affair 
was  by  my  means  compleated.  Mr.  Quincy  re- 
turn'd  thanks  to  the  Assembly  in  a  handsome  memo 
rial,  went  home  highly  pleas'd  with  the  success  of 
his  embassy,  and  ever  after  bore  for  me  the  most 
cordial  and  affectionate  friendship. 

The  British  government,  not  chusing  to  permit 
the  union  of  the  colonies  as  propos'd  at  Albany,  and 
to  trust  that  union  with  their  defense,  lest  they 
should  thereby  grow  too  military,  and  feel  their  own 


302  AUTOBIOGRAPPIT  OF 

strength,  suspicions  and  jealousies  at  this  time  being 
entertain'd  of  them,  sent  over  General  Braddock 
with  two  regiments  of  regular  English  troops  for 
that  purpose.  He  landed  at  Alexandria,  in  Virginia, 
and  thence  march'd  to  Frederictown,  in  Maryland, 
where  he  halted  for  carriages.  Our  Assembly  ap 
prehending,  from  some  information,  that  he  had  con 
ceived  violent  prejudices  against  them,  as  averse  to 
the  service,  wish'd  me  to  wait  upon  him,  not  as 
from  them,  but  as  postmaster-general,  under  the 
guise  of  proposing  to  settle  with  him  the  mode  of 
conducting  with  most  celerity  and  certainty  the  de 
spatches  between  him  and  the  governors  of  the  sev 
eral  provinces,  with  whom  he  must  necessarily  have 
continual  correspondence,  and  of  which  they  pro- 
pos'd  to  pay  the  expense.  My  son  accompanied 
me  on  this  journey. 

We  found  the  general  at  Frederictown,  waiting 
impatiently  for  the  return  of  those  he  had  sent  thro' 
the  back  parts  of  Maryland  and  Virginia  to  collect 
waggons.  I  stayed  with  him  several  days,  din'd 
with  him  daily,  and  had  full  opportunity  of  remov 
ing  all  his  prejudices,  by  the  information  of  what 
the  Assembly  had  before  his  arrival  actually  done, 
and  were  still  willing  to  do,  to  facilitate  his  opera 
tions.  When  I  was  about  to  depart,  the  returns  of 
waggons  to  be  obtained  were  brought  in,  by  which  it 
appear'd  that  they  amounted  only  to  twenty-five,  and 
not  all  of  those  were  in  serviceable  condition.  The 
general  and  all  the  officers  were  surpris'd,  declar'd 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  303 

the  expedition  was  then  at  an  end,  being  impossible  ; 
and  exclaim'd  against  the  ministers  for  ignorantly 
landing  them  in  a  country  destitute  of  the  means  of 
conveying  their  stores,  baggage,  etc.,  not  less  than 
one  hundred  and  fifty  waggons  being  necessary. 

I  happen'd  to  say  I  thought  it  was  pity  they  had 
not  been  landed  rather  in  Pennsylvania,  as  in  that 
country  almost  every  farmer  had  his  waggon.  The 
general  eagerly  laid  hold  of  my  words,  and  said, 
"Then  you,  sir,  who  are  a  man  of  interest  there, 
can  probably  procure  them  for  us ;  and  I  beg  you 
will  undertake  it."  I  ask'd  what  terms  were  to  be 
offer'd  the  owners  of  the  waggons ;  and  I  was  de- 
sir'd  to  put  on  paper  the  terms  that  appeared  to  me 
necessary.  This  I  did,  and  they  were  agreed  to, 
and  a  commission  and  instructions  accordingly  pre- 
par'd  immediately.  What  those  terms  were  will 
appear  in  the  advertisement  I  publish'd  as  soon  as 
I  arriv'd  at  Lancaster,  which  being,  from  the  great 
and  sudden  effect  it  produc'd,  a  piece  of  some  curi 
osity,  I  shall  insert  it  at  length,  as  follows  : 

' '  ADVERTISEMENT. 

"  LANCASTER,  April  26,  1755. 

"Whereas,  one  hundred  and  fifty  waggons,  with 
four  horses  to  each  waggon,  and  fifteen  hundred  sad 
dle  or  pack  horses,  are  wanted  for  the  service  of  his 
majesty's  forces  now  about  to  rendezvous  at  Will's 
Creek,  and  his  excellency  General  Braddock  having 
been  pleased  to  empower  me  to  contract  for  the  hire 


304  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

of  the  same,  I  hereby  give  notice  that  I  shall  attend 
for  that  purpose  at  Lancaster  from  this  day  to  next 
Wednesday  evening,  and  at  York  from  next  Thurs 
day  morning  till  Friday  evening,  where  I  shall  be 
ready  to  agree  for  waggons  and  teams,  or  single 
horses,  on  the  following  terms,  viz.  :  i.  That  there 
shall  be  paid  for  each  waggon,  with  four  good  horses 
and  a  driver,  fifteen  shillings  per  diem  ;  and  for  each 
able  horse  with  a  pack-saddle,  or  other  saddle  and 
furniture,  two  shillings  per  diem ;  and  for  each  able 
horse  without  a  saddle,  eighteen  pence  per  diem. 
2.  That  the  pay  commence  from  the  time  of  their 
joining  the  forces  at  Will's  Creek,  which  must  be 
on  or  before  the  2Oth  of  May  ensuing,  and  that  a 
reasonable  allowance  be  paid  over  and  above  for  the 
time  necessary  for  their  travelling  to  Will's  Creek 
and  home  again  after  their  discharge.  3.  Each 
waggon  and  team,  and  every  saddle  or  pack  horse, 
is  to  be  valued  by  indifferent  persons  chosen  be 
tween  me  and  the  owner ;  and  in  case  of  the  loss  of 
any  waggon,  team,  or  other  horse  in  the  service,  the 
price  according  to  such  valuation  is  to  be  allowed 
and  paid.  4.  Seven  days'  pay  is  to  be  advanced 
and  paid  in  hand  by  me  to  the  owner  of  each  waggon 
and  team,  or  horse,  at  the  time  of  contracting,  if 
required,  and  the  remainder  to  be  paid  by  General 
Braddock,  or  by  the  paymaster  of  the  army,  at  the 
time  of  their  discharge,  or  from  time  to  time,  as  it 
shall  be  demanded.  5.  No  drivers  of  waggons,  or 
persons  taking  care  of  the  hired  horses,  are  on  any 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  305 

account  to  be  called  upon  to  do  the  duty  of  soldiers, 
or  be  otherwise  employed  than  in  conducting  or 
taking  care  of  their  carriages  or  horses.  6.  All  oats, 
Indian  corn,  or  other  forage  that  waggons  or  horses 
bring  to  the  camp,  more  than  is  necessary  for  the 
subsistence  of  the  horses,  is  to  be  taken  for  the  use 
of  the  army,  and  a  reasonable  price  paid  for  the 
same. 

"Note. — My  son,  William  Franklin,  is  empow 
ered  to  enter  into  like  contracts  with  any  person  in 
Cumberland  county.  B.  FRANKLIN." 

"  To  the  inhabitants  of  the  Counties  of  Lancaster, 
York,  and  Cumberland. 

"  Friends  and  Countrymen, 

*'  Being  occasionally  at  the  camp  at  Frederic  a 
few  days  since,  I  found  the  general  and  officers  ex 
tremely  exasperated  on  account  of  their  not  being 
supplied  with  horses  and  carriages,  which  had  been 
expected  from  this  province,  as  most  able  to  furnish 
them ;  but,  through  the  dissensions  between  our 
governor  and  Assembly,  money  had  not  been  pro 
vided,  nor  any  steps  taken  for  that  purpose. 

"It  was  proposed  to  send  an  armed  force  imme 
diately  into  these  counties,  to  seize  as  many  of  the 
best  carriages  and  horses  as  should  be  wanted,  and 
compel  as  many  persons  into  the  service  as  would 
be  necessary  to  drive  and  take  care  of  them. 

"  I  apprehended  that  the  progress  of  British  sol 
diers  through  these  counties  on  such  an  occasion, 

26  * 


306  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

especially  considering  the  temper  they  are  in,  and 
their  resentment  against  us.  would  be  attended  with 
many  and  great  inconveniences  to  the  inhabitants, 
and  therefore  more  willingly  took  the  trouble  of 
trying  first  what  might  be  done  by  fair  and  equitable 
means.  The  people  of  these  back  counties  have 
lately  complained  to  the  Assembly  that  a  sufficient 
currency  was  wanting  ;  you  have  an  opportunity  of 
receiving  and  dividing  among  you  a  very  consider 
able  sum ;  for,  if  the  service  of  this  expedition 
should  continue,  as  it  is  more  than  probable  it  will, 
for  one  hundred  and  twenty  days,  the  hire  of  these 
waggons  and  horses  will  amount  to  upward  of  thirty 
thousand  pounds,  which  will  be  paid  you  in  silver 
and  gold  of  the  king's  money. 

"The  service  will  be  light  and  easy,  for  the  army 
will  scarce  march  above  twelve  miles  per  day,  and 
the  waggons  and  baggage-horses,  as  they  carry  those 
things  that  are  absolutely  necessary  to  the  welfare 
of  the  army,  must  march  with  the  army,  and  no 
faster ;  and  are,  for  the  army's  sake,  always  placed 
where  they  can  be  most  secure,  whether  in  a  march 
or  in  a  camp. 

"  If  you  are  really,  as  I  believe  you  are,  good 
and  loyal  subjects  to  his  majesty,  you  may  now  do 
a  most  acceptable  service,  and  make  it  easy  to  your 
selves  ;  for  three  or  four  of  such  as  can  not  separ 
ately  spare  from  the  business  of  their  plantations  a 
waggon  and  four  horses  and  a  driver,  may  do  it 
together,  one  furnishing  the  waggon,  another  one  or 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  307 

two  horses,  and  another  the  driver,  and  divide  the 
pay  proportionately  between  you ;  but  if  you  do  not 
this  service  to  your  king  and  country  voluntarily, 
when  such  good  pay  and  reasonable  terms  are 
offered  to  you,  your  loyalty  will  be  strongly  sus 
pected.  The  king's  business  must  be  done ;  so 
many  brave  troops,  come  so  far  for  your  defense, 
must  not  stand  idle  through  your  backwardness  to 
do  what  may  be  reasonably  expected  from  you ; 
waggons  and  horses  must  be  had  ;  violent  measures 
will  probably  be  used,  and  you  will  be  left  to  seek 
for  a  recompense  where  you  can  find  it,  and  your 
case,  perhaps,  be  little  pitied  or  regarded. 

"  I  have  no  particular  interest  in  this  affair,  as, 
except  the  satisfaction  of  endeavoring  to  do  good,  I 
shall  have  only  my  labor  for  my  pains.  If  this 
method  of  obtaining  the  waggons  and  horses  is  not 
likely  to  succeed,  I  am  obliged  to  send  word  to  the 
general  in  fourteen  days  ;  and  I  suppose  Sir  John 
St.  Clair,  the  hussar,  with  a  body  of  soldiers,  will 
immediately  enter  the  province  for  the  purpose, 
which  I  shall  be  sorry  to  hear,  because  I  am  very 
sincerely  and  truly  your  friend  and  well-wisher, 

"B.  FRANKLIN." 

I  received  of  the  general  about  eight  hundred 
pounds,  to  be  disbursed  in  advance-money  to  the 
waggon  owners,  etc.  ;  but  that  sum  being  insuffi 
cient,  I  advanc'd  upward  of  two  hundred  pounds 
more,  and  in  two  weeks  the  one  hundred  and  fifty 


308  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

waggons,  with  two  hundred  and  fifty-nine  carrying- 
horses,  were  on  their  march  for  the  camp.  The 
advertisement  promised  payment  according  to  the 
valuation,  in  case  any  waggon  or  horse  should  be 
lost.  The  owners,  however,  alleging  they  did  not 
know  General  Braddock,  or  what  dependence  might 
be  had  on  his  promise,  insisted  on  my  bond  for  the 
performance,  which  I  accordingly  gave  them. 

While  I  was  at  the  camp,  supping  one  evening 
with  the  officers  of  Colonel  Dunbar's  regiment,  he 
represented  to  me  his  concern  for  the  subalterns, 
who,  he  said,  were  generally  not  in  affluence,  and 
could  ill  afford,  in  this  dear  country,  to  lay  in  the 
stores  that  might  be  necessary  in  so  long  a  march, 
thro'  a  wilderness,  where  nothing  was  to  be  pur- 
chas'd.  I  commiserated  their  case,  and  resolved 
to  endeavor  procuring  them  some  relief.  I  said 
nothing,  however,  to  him  of  my  intention,  but  wrote 
the  next  morning  to  the  committee  of  the  Assembly, 
who  had  the  disposition  of  some-  public  money, 
warmly  recommending  the  case  of  these  officers  to 
their  consideration,  and  proposing  that  a  present 
should  be  sent  them  of  necessaries  and  refreshments. 
My  son,  who  had  some  experience  of  a  camp  life, 
and  of  its  wants,  drew  up  a  list  for  me,  which  I 
enclos'd  in  my  letter.  The  committee  approv'd, 
and  used  such  diligence  that,  conducted  by  my 
son,  the  stores  arrived  at  the  camp  as  soon  as  the 
waggons.  They  consisted  of  twenty  parcels,  each 
containing 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  309 

6  Ibs.  loaf  sugar.  i  Gloucester  cheese. 

6  Ibs.  good  Muscovado  do.  I  kegg  containing  20  Ibs.  good  butter. 

i  Ib.  good  green  tea.  2  doz.  old  Madeira  wine. 

i  Ib.  good  bohea  do.  2  gallons  Jamaica  spirits. 

6  Ibs.  good  ground  coffee.  i  bottle  flour  of  mustard. 

6  Ibs.  chocolate.  2  \vell-cur'd  hams. 

1-2  cwL  best  white  biscuit  1-2  dozen  dry'd  tongues. 

1-2  Ib.  pepper.  6  Ibs.  rice. 

I  quart  best  white  wine  vinegar.       6  Ibs.  raisins. 

These  twenty  parcels,  well  pack'd,  were  placed 
on  as  many  horses,  each  parcel,  with  the  horse, 
being  intended  as  a  present  for  one  officer.  They 
were  very  thankfully  receiv'd,  and  the  kindness  ac- 
knowledg'd  by  letters  to  me  from  the  colonels  of 
both  regiments,  in  the  most  grateful  terms.  The 
general,  too,  was  highly  satisfied  with  my  conduct  in 
procuring  him  the  waggons,  etc.,  and  readily  paid  my 
account  of  disbursements,  thanking  me  repeatedly, 
and  requesting  my  farther  assistance  in  sending 
provisions  after  him.  I  undertook  this  also,  and 
was  busily  employ 'd  in  it  till  we  heard  of  his  defeat, 
advancing  for  the  service  of  my  own  money,  upwards 
of  one  thousand  pounds  sterling,  of  which  I  sent 
him  an  account.  It  came  to  his  hands,  luckily  for 
me,  a  few  days  before  the  battle,  and  he  return'd  me 
immediately  an  order  on  the  paymaster  for  the  round 
sum  of  one  thousand  pounds,  leaving  the  remainder 
to  the  next  account.  I  consider  this  payment  as 
good  luck,  having  never  been  able  to  obtain  that 
remainder,  of  \vhich  more  hereafter. 

This  general  was,  I  think,  a  brave  man,  and 
might  probably  have  made  a  figure  as  a  good  officer 


310  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

in  some  European  war.  But  he  had  too  much  self- 
confidence,  too  high  an  opinion  of  the  validity  of 
regular  troops,  and  too  mean  a  one  of  both  Ameri 
cans  and  Indians.  George  Croghan,  our  Indian  in 
terpreter,  join'd  him  on  his  march  with  one  hundred 
of  those  people,  who  might  have  been  of  great  use 
to  his  army  as  guides,  scouts,  etc.,  if  he  had  treated 
them  kindly ;  but  he  slighted  and  neglected  them, 
and  they  gradually  left  him. 

In  conversation  with  him  one  day,  he  was  giving 
me  some  account  of  his  intended  progress.  "  After 
taking  Fort  Duquesne./'  says  he,  "  I  am  to  proceed 
to  Niagara ;  and,  having  taken  that,  to  Frontenac, 
if  the  season  will  allow  time ;  and  I  suppose  it  will, 
for  Duquesne  can  hardly  detain  me  above  three  or 
four  days ;  and  then  I  see  nothing  that  can  obstruct 
my  march  to  Niagara."  Having  before  revolv'd  in 
my  mind  the  long  line  his  army  must  make  in  their 
march  by  a  very  narrow  road,  to  be  cut  for  them 
thro'  the  woods  and  bushes,  and  also  what  I  had 
read  of  a  former  defeat  of  fifteen  hundred  French, 
who  invaded  the  Iroquois  country,  I  had  conceiv'd 
some  doubts  and  some  fears  for  the  event  of  the 
campaign.  But  I  ventur'd  only  to  say,  "To  be 
sure,  sir,  if  you  arrive  well  before  Duquesne,  with 
these  fine  troops,  so  well  provided  with  artillery, 
that  place  not  yet  compleatly  fortified,  and  as  we 
hear  with  no  very  strong  garrison,  can  probably 
make  but  a  short  resistance.  The  only  danger  I 
apprehend  of  obstruction  to  your  march  is  from  am- 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  311 

buscades  of  Indians,  who,  by  constant  practice,  are 
dexterous  in  laying  and  executing  them  ;  and  the 
slender  line,  near  four  miles  long,  which  your  army 
must  make,  may  expose  it  to  be  attack'd  by  surprise 
in  its  flanks,  and  to  be  cut  like  a  thread  into  several 
pieces,  which,  from  their  distance,  can  not  come  up 
in  time  to  support  each  other." 

He  smil'd  at  my  ignorance,  and  reply'd,  "These 
savages  may,  indeed,  be  a  formidable  enemy  to  your 
raw  American  militia,  but  upon  the  king's  regular 
and  disciplin'd  troops,  sir,  it  is  impossible  they  should 
make  any  impression."  I  was  conscious  of  an  im 
propriety  in  my  disputing  with  a  military  man  in 
matters  of  his  profession,  and  said  no  more.  The 
enemy,  however,  did  not  take  the  advantage  of  his 
army  which  I  apprehended  its  long  line  of  march 
expos'd  it  to,  but  let  it  advance  without  interruption 
till  within  nine  miles  of  the  place  ;  and  then,  when 
more  in  a  body  (for  it  had  just  passed  a  river,  where 
the  front  had  halted  till  all  were  come  over),  and  in 
a  more  open  part  of  the  woods  than  any  it  had  pass'd, 
attack'd  its  advanced  guard  by  a  heavy  fire  from 
behind  trees  and  bushes,  which  was  the  first  intel 
ligence  the  general  had  of  an  enemy's  being  near 
him.  This  guard  being  disordered,  the  general  hur 
ried  the  troops  up .  to  their  assistance,  which  was 
done  in  great  confusion,  thro'  waggons,  baggage, 
and  cattle  ;  and  presently  the  fire  came  upon  their 
flank  :  the  officers,  being  on  horseback,  were  more 
easily  distinguished,  pick'd  out  as  marks,  and  fell 


312  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

very  fast ;  and  the  soldiers  were  crowded  together 
in  a  huddle,  having  or  hearing  no  orders,  and  stand 
ing  to  be  shot  at  till  two-thirds  of  them  were  killed ; 
and  then,  being  seiz'd  with  a  panick,  the  whole  fled 
with  precipitation. 

The  waggoners  took  each  a  horse  out  of  his  team 
and  scamper'd  ;  their  example  was  immediately  fol 
lowed  by  others  ;  so  that  all  the  waggons,  provisions, 
artillery,  and  stores  were  left  to  the  enemy.  The 
general,  being  wounded,  was  brought  off  with  diffi 
culty  ;  his  secretary,  Mr.  Shirley,  was  killed  by  his 
side  ;  and  out  of  eighty-six  officers,  sixty-three  were 
killed  or  wounded,  and  seven  hundred  and  fourteen 
men  killed  out  of  eleven  hundred.  These  eleven 
hundred  had  been  picked  men  from  the  whole  army  ; 
the  rest  had  been  left  behind  with  Colonel  Dunbar, 
who  was  to  follow  with  the  heavier  part  of  the 
stores,  provisions,  and  baggage.  The  flyers,  not 
being  pursu'd,  arriv'd  at  Dunbar's  camp,  and  the 
panick  they  brought  with  them  instantly  seiz'd  him 
and  all  his  people  ;  and,  tho'  he  had  now  above  one 
thousand  men,  and  the  enemy  who  had  beaten 
Braddock  did  not  at  most  exceed  four  hundred 
Indians  and  French  together,  instead  of  proceeding, 
and  endeavoring  to  recover  some  of  the  lost  honour, 
he  ordered  all  the  stores,  ammunition,  etc.,  to  be 
destroy'd,  that  he  might  have  more  horses  to  assist 
his  flight  towards  the  settlements,  and  less  lumber  to 
remove.  He  was  there  met  with  requests  from  the 
governors  of  Virginia,  Maryland,  and  Pennsylvania, 


BENJAMI-N  FRANKLIN.  313 

that  he  would  post  his  troops  on  the  frontiers,  so  as 
to  afford  some  protection  to  the  inhabitants ;  but  he 
continu'd  his  hasty  march  thro'  all  the  country,  not 
thinking  himself  safe  till  he  arriv'd  at  Philadelphia, 
where  the  inhabitants  could  protect  him.  This 
whole  transaction  gave  us  Americans  the  first  sus 
picion  that  our  exalted  ideas  of  the  prowess  of 
British  regulars  had  not  been  well  founded. 

In  their  first  march,  too,  from  their  landing  till 
they  got  beyond  the  settlements,  they  had  plundered 
and  stripped  the  inhabitants,  totally  ruining  some 
poor  families,  besides  insulting,  abusing,  and  con 
fining  the  people  if  they  remonstrated.  This  was 
enough  to  put  us  out  of  conceit  of  such  defenders,  if 
we  had  really  wanted  any.  How  different  was  the 
conduct  of  our  French  friends  in  1781,  who,  during 
a  march  thro'  the  most  inhabited  part  of  our  country 
from  Rhode  Island  to  Virginia,  near  seven  hundred 
miles,  occasioned  not  the  smallest  complaint  for  the 
loss  of  a  pig,  a  chicken,  or  even  an  apple. 

Captain  Orme,  who  was  one  of  the  general's 
aids-de-camp,  and,  being  grievously  wounded,  was 
brought  off  with  him,  and  continu'd  with  him  to  his 
death,  which  happen'd  in  a  few  days,  told  me  that 
he  was  totally  silent  all  the  first  day,  and  at  night 
only  said,  "  Who  would  have  thought  it?'  That 
he  was  silent  again  the  following  day,  saying  only 
at  last,  "  We  shall  better  know  how  to  deal  with 
them  another  time;'''  and  dy'd  in  a  few  minutes 
after. 

27  0 


314  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

The  secretary's  papers,  with  all  the  general's  or 
ders,  instructions,  and  correspondence,  falling  into 
the  enemy's  hands,  they  selected  and  translated  into 
French  a  number  of  the  articles,  which  they  printed, 
to  prove  the  hostile  intentions  of  the  British  court 
before  the  declaration  of  war.  Among  these  I  saw 
some  letters  of  the  general  to  the  ministry,  speaking 
highly  of  the  great  service  I  had  rendered  the  army, 
and  recommending  me  to  their  notice.  David  Hume, 
too,  who  was  some  years  after  secretary  to  Lord 
Hertford,  when  minister  in  France,  and  afterward 
to  General  Conway,  when  secretary  of  state,  told 
me  he  had  seen  among  the  papers  in  that  office,  let 
ters  from  Braddock  highly  recommending  me.  But, 
the  expedition  having  been  unfortunate,  my  service, 
it  seems,  was  not  thought  of  much  value,  for  those 
recommendations  were  never  of  any  use  to  me. 

As  to  rewards  from  himself,  I  ask'd  only  one, 
which  was,  that  he  would  give  orders  to  his  officers 
not  to  enlist  any  more  of  our  bought  servants,  and 
that  he  would  discharge  such  as  had  been  already 
enlisted.  This  he  readily  granted,  and  several  were 
accordingly  return'd  to  their  masters,  on  my  appli 
cation.  Dunbar,  when  the  command  devolv'd  on 
him,  was  not  so  generous.  He  being  at  Philadel 
phia,  on  his  retreat,  or  rather  flight,  I  apply 'd  to  him 
for  the  discharge  of  the  servants  of  three  poor  farmers 
of  Lancaster  county  that  he  had  enlisted,  reminding 
him  of  the  late  general's  orders  on  that  head.  He 
promised  me  that,  if  the  masters  would  come  to  him 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  315 

at  Trenton,  where  he  should  be  in  a  few  days  on 
his  march  to  New  York,  he  would  there  deliver  their 
men  to  them.  They  accordingly  were  at  the  ex 
pense  and  trouble  of  going  to  Trenton,  and  there  he 
refus'd  to  perform  his  promise,  to  their  great  loss 
and  disappointment. 

As  soon  as  the  loss  of  the  waggons  and  horses  was 
generally  known,  all  the  owners  came  upon  me  for 
the  valuation  which  I  had  given  bond  to  pay.  Their 
demands  gave  me  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  my  ac 
quainting  them  that  the  money  was  ready  in  the 
paymaster's  hands,  but  that  orders  for  paying  it  must 
first  be  otained  from  General  Shirley,  and  my  assur 
ing  them  that  I  had  apply'd  to  that  general  by  letter  ; 
but,  he  being  at  a  distance,  an  answer  could  not 
soon  be  receiv'd,  and  they  must  have  patience,  all 
this  was  not  sufficient  to  satisfy,  and  some  began  to 
sue  me.  General  Shirley  at  length  relieved  me  from 
this  terrible  situation  by  appointing  commissioners 
to  examine  the  claims,  and  ordering  payment.  They 
amounted  to  near  twenty  thousand  pound,  which  to 
pay  would  have  ruined  me. 

Before  we  had  the  news  of  this  defeat,  the  two 
Doctors  Bond  came  to  me  with  a  subscription  paper 
for  raising  money  to  defray  the  expense  of  a  grand 
firework,  which  it  was  intended  to  exhibit  at  a  re 
joicing  on  receipt  of  the  news  of  our  taking  Fort 
Duquesne.  I  looked  grave,  and  said  it  would,  I 
thought,  be  time  enough  to  prepare  for  the  rejoicing 
when  we  knew  we  should  have  occasion  to  rejoice. 


316  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

They  seem'd  surpris'd  that  I  did  not  immediately 
comply  with  their  proposal.  "Why  the  d — 1 !"  says 
one  of  them,  "  you  surely  don't  suppose  that  the  fort 
will  not  be  taken?"  "  I  don't  know  that  it  will  not 
be  taken,  but  I  know  that  the  events  of  war  are  sub 
ject  to  great  uncertainty."  I  gave  them  the  reasons 
of  my  doubting  ;  the  subscription  was  dropt,  and  the 
projectors  thereby  missed  the  mortification  they 
would  have  undergone  if  the  firework  had  been  pre 
pared.  Dr.  Bond,  on  some  other  occasion  after 
ward,  said  that  he  did  not  like  Franklin's  fore 
bodings. 

Governor  Morris,  who  had  continually  worried 
the  Assembly  with  message  after  message  before  the 
defeat  of  Braddock,  to  beat  them  into  the  making 
of  acts  to  raise  money  for  the  defense  of  the  province, 
without  taxing,  among  others,  the  proprietary  es 
tates,  and  had  rejected  all  their  bills  for  not  having 
such  an  exempting  clause,  now  redoubled  his  attacks 
with  more  hope  of  success,  the  danger  and  necessity 
being  greater.  The  Assembly,  however,  continu'd 
firm,  believing  they  had  justice  on  their  side,  and 
that  it  would  be  giving  up  an  essential  right  if  they 
suffered  the  governor  to  amend  their  money-bills. 
In  one  of  the  last,  indeed,  which  was  for  granting 
fifty  thousand  pounds,  his  propos'd  amendment  was 
only  of  a  single  word.  The  bill  express'd  "  that  all 
estates,  real  and  personal,  were  to  be  taxed,  those 
of  the  proprietaries  not  excepted."  His  amendment 
was,  for  not  read  only :  a  small,  but  very  material 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  317 

alteration.  However,  when  the  news  of  this  dis 
aster  reached  England,  our  friends  there,  whom  we 
had  taken  care  to  furnish  with  all  the  Assembly's 
answers  to  the  governor's  messages,  rais'd  a  clamor 
against  the  proprietaries  for  their  meanness  and  in 
justice  in  giving  their  governor  such  instructions ; 
some  going  so  far  as  to  say  that,  by  obstructing  the 
defense  of  their  province,  they  forfeited  their  right 
to  it.  They  were  intimidated  by  this,  and  sent 
orders  to  their  receiver-general  to  add  five  thousand 
pounds  of  their  money  to  whatever  sum  might  be 
given  by  the  Assembly  for  such  purpose. 

This,  being  notified  to  the  House,  was  accepted 
in  lieu  of  their  share  of  a  general  tax,  and  a  new 
bill  was  form'd,  with  an  exempting  clause,  which 
passed  accordingly.  By  this  act  I  was  appointed 
one  of  the  commissioners  for  disposing  of  the  money, 
sixty  thousand  pounds.  I  had  been  active  in  mo 
delling  the  bill  and  procuring  its  passage,  and  had, 
at  the  same  time,  drawn  a  bill  for  establishing  and 
disciplining  a  voluntary  militia,  which  I  carried  thro' 
the  House  without  much  difficulty,  as  care  was 
taken  in  it  to  leave  the  Quakers  at  their  liberty.  To 
promote  the  association  necessary  to  form  the  militia, 
I  wrote  a  dialogue,*  stating  and  answering  all  the 
objections  I  could  think  of  to  such  a  militia,  which 
was  printed,  and  had,  as  I  thought,  great  effect. 


*  This  dialogue  and  the  militia  act  are  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine 
for  February  and  March,  1756. — \Afarg.  nofe.] 
27  * 


318  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

While  the  several  companies  in  the  city  and 
country  were  forming,  and  learning  their  exercise, 
the  governor  prevailed  with  me  to  take  charge  of 
our  North-western  frontier,  which  was  infested  by 
the  enemy,  and  provide  for  the  defense  of  the  in 
habitants  by  raising  troops  and  building  a  line  of 
forts.  I  undertook  this  military  business,  tho'  I 
did  not  conceive  myself  well  qualified  for  it.  He 
gave  me  a  commission  with  full  powers,  and  a  parcel 
of  blank  commissions  for  officers,  to  be  given  to 
whom  I  thought  fit.  I  had  but  little  difficulty  in 
raising  men,  having  soon  five  hundred  and  sixty 
under  my  command.  My  son,  who  had  in  the  pre 
ceding  war  been  an  officer  in  the  army  rais'd  against 
Canada,  was  my  aid-de-camp,  and  of  great  use  to 
me.  The  Indians  had  burned  Gnadenhut,  a  village 
settled  by  the  Moravians,  and  massacred  the  in 
habitants  ;  but  the  place  was  thought  a  good  situation 
for  one  of  the  forts. 

In  order  to  march  thither,  I  assembled  the  com 
panies  at  Bethlehem,  the  chief  establishment  of  those 
people.  I  was  surprised  to  find  it  in  so  good  a  pos 
ture  of  defense  ;  the  destruction  of  Gnadenhut  had 
made  them  apprehend  danger.  The  principal  build 
ings  were  defended  by  a  stockade ;  they  had  pur 
chased  a  quantity  of  arms  and  ammunition  from 
New  York,  and  had  even  plac'd  quantities  of  small 
paving  stones  between  the  windows  of  their  high 
stone  houses,  for  their  women  to  throw  down  upon 
the  heads  of  any  Indians  that  should  attempt  to 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  319 

force  into  them.  The  armed  brethren,  too,  kept 
watch,  and  reliev'd  as  methodically  as  in  any  gar 
rison  town.  In  conversation  with  the  bishop,  Span- 
genberg,  I  mention'd  this  my  surprise  ;  for,  know 
ing  they  had  obtained  an  act  of  Parliament  exempt 
ing  them  from  "military  duties  in  the  colonies,  I  had 
suppos'd  they  were  conscientiously  scrupulous  of 
bearing  arms.  He  answer'd  me  that  it  was  not  one 
of  their  established  principles,  but  that,  at  the  time 
of  their  obtaining  that  act,  it  \vas  thought  to  be  a 
principle  with  many  of  their  people.  On  this  occa 
sion,  however,  they,  to  their  surprise,  found  it 
adopted  by  but  a  few.  It  seems  they  were  either 
deceiv'd  in  themselves,  or  deceiv'd  the  Parliament; 
but  common  sense,  aided  by  present  danger,  will 
sometimes  be  too  strong  for  whimsical  opinions. 

It  was  the  beginning  of  January  when  we  set  out 
upon  this  business  of  building  forts.  I  sent  one  de 
tachment  toward  the  Minisink,  with  instructions  to 
erect  one  for  the  security  of  that  upper  part  of  the 
country,  and  another  to  the  lower  part,  with  similar 
instructions ;  and  I  concluded  to  go  myself  with  the 
rest  of  my  force  to  Gnadenhut,  where  a  fort  was 
tho't  more  immediately  necessary.  The  Moravians 
procur'd  me  five  waggons  for  our  tools,  stores, 
baggage,  etc. 

Just  before  we  left  Bethlehem,  eleven  farmers, 
who  had  been  driven  from  their  plantations  by  the 
Indians,  came  to  me  requesting  a  supply  of  firearms, 
that  they  might  go  back  and  fetch  off  their  cattle. 


320  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

I  gave  them  each  a  gun  with  suitable  ammunition.. 
We  had  not  march'd  many  miles  before  it  began 
to  rain,  and  it  continued  raining  all  day  ;  there  were 
no  habitations  on  the  road  to  shelter  us,  till  we  ar- 
riv'd  near  night  at  the  house  of  a  German,  where, 
and  in  his  barn,  we  were  all  huddled  together,  as 
wet  as  water  could  make  us.  It  \vas  well  we  were 
not  attack'd  in  our  march,  for  our  arms  were  of  the 
most  ordinary  sort,  and  our  men  could  not  keep 
their  gun  locks  dry.  The  Indians  are  dextrous 
in  contrivances  for  that  purpose,  which  \ve  had  not. 
They  met  that  day  the  eleven  poor  farmers  above 
mentioned,  and  killed  ten  of  them.  The  one  who 
escap'd  inform'd  that  his  and  his  companions'  guns 
would  not  go  oft',  the  priming  being  wet  with  the 
rain. 

The  next  day  being  fair,  we  continu'd  our  march, 
and  arriv'd  at  the  desolated  Gnadenhut.  There  was 
a  saw-mill  near,  round  which  were  left  several  piles 
of  boards,  with  which  we  soon  hutted  ourselves;  an 
operation  the  more  necessary  at  that  inclement  sea 
son,  as  we  had  no  tents.  Our  first  work  was  to 
bury  more  effectually  the  dead  we  found  there,  who 
had  been  half  interr'd  by  the  country  people. 

The  next  morning  our  fort  was  plann'd  and  mark'd 
out,  the  circumference  measuring  four  hundred  and 
fifty-five  feet,  which  would  require  as  many  palisades 
to  be  made  of  trees,  one  with  another,  of  a  foot 
diameter  each.  Our  axes,  of  which  we  had  seventy, 
were  immediately  set  to  work  to  cut  down  trees, 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  321 

and,  our  men  being  dextrous  in  the  use  of  them, 
great  despatch  was  made.  Seeing  the  trees  fall  so 
fast,  I  had  the  curiosity  to  look  at  my  watch  when 
two  men  began  to  cut  at  a  pine  ;  in  six  minutes  they 
had  it  upon  the  ground,  and  I  found  it  of  fourteen 
inches  diameter.  Each  pine  made  three  palisades 
of  eighteen  feet  long,  pointed  at  one  end.  While 
these  were  preparing,  our  other  men  dug  a  trench 
all  round,  of  three  feet  deep,  in  which  the  palisades 
were  to  be  planted ;  and,  our  waggons,  the  bodys 
being  taken  oft',  and  the  fore  and  hind  wheels  sepa 
rated  by  taking  out  the  pin  which  united  the  two 
parts  of  the  perch,  we  had  ten  carriages,  with  two 
horses  each,  to  bring  the  palisades  from  the  woods 
to  the  spot.  When  they  were  set  up,  our  carpen 
ters  built  a  stage  of  boards  all  round  within,  about 
six  feet  high,  for  the  men  to  stand  on  when  to  fire 
thro'  the  loopholes.  We  had  one  swivel  gun,  which 
we  mounted  on  one  of  the  angles,  and  fir'd  it  as  soon 
as  fix'd,  to  let  the  Indians  know,  if  any  were  within 
hearing,  that  we  had  such  pieces  ;  and  thus  our  fort, 
if  such  a  magnificent  name  may  be  given  to  so 
miserable  a  stockade,  was  finish'd  in  a  week,  though 
it  rain'd  so  hard  every  other  day  that  the  men  could 
not  work. 

This  gave  me  occasion  to  observe,  that,  when 
men  are  employ 'd,  they  are  best  content'd ;  for  on 
the  days  they  worked  they  were  good-nattir'd  and 
cheerful,  and,  with  the  consciousness  of  having  done 
a  good  day's  work,  they  spent  the  evening  jollily  ; 

o* 


322  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

but  on  our  idle  days  they  were  mutinous  and  quar 
relsome,  finding  fault  with  their  pork,  the  bread,  etc., 
and  in  continual  ill-humor,  which  put  me  in  mind 
of  a  sea-captain,  whose  rule  it  was  to  keep  his  men 
constantly  at  work ;  and,  when  his  mate  once  told 
him  that  they  had  done  every  thing,  and  there  was 
nothing  further  to  employ  them  about,  t6  O/i,"  says 
he,  "  make  them  scour  the  anchor." 

This  kind  of  fort,  however  contemptible,  is  a  suf 
ficient  defense  against  Indians,  who  have  no  cannon. 
Finding  ourselves  now  posted  securely,  and  having 
a  place  to  retreat  to  on  occasion,  we  ventur'd  out  in 
parties  to  scour  the  adjacent  country.  We  met  with 
no  Indians,  but  we  found  the  places  on  the  neigh 
boring  hills  where  they  had  lain  to  watch  our  pro 
ceedings.  There  was  an  art  in  their  contrivance  of 
those  places  that  seems  worth  mention.  It  being 
winter,  a  fire  was  necessary  for  them  ;  but  a  com 
mon  fire  on  the  surface  of  the  ground  would  by  its 
light  have  discover'd  their  position  at  a  distance. 
They  had  therefore  dug  holes  in  the  ground  about 
three  feet  diameter,  and  somewhat  deeper ;  we  saw 
where  they  had  with  their  hatchets  cut  off  the  char 
coal  from  the  sides  of  burnt  logs  lying  in  the  woods. 
With  these  coals  they  had  made  small  fires  in  the 
bottom  of  the  holes,  and  we  observ'd  among  the 
weeds  and  grass  the  prints  of  their  bodies,  made  by 
their  laying  all  round,  with  their  legs  hanging  down 
in  the  holes  to  keep  their  feet  warm,  which,  with 
them,  is  an  essential  point.  This  kind  of  fire,  so 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  323 

manag'd,  could  not  discover  them,  either  by  its  light, 
flame,  sparks,  or  even  smoke  :  it  appear'd  that  their 
number  was  not  great,  and  it  seems  they  saw  we 
were  too  many  to  be  attacked  by  them  with  prospect 
of  advantage. 

We  had  for  our  chaplain  a  zealous  Presbyterian 
minister,  Mr.  Beatty,  who  complained  to  me  that 
the  men  did  not  generally  attend  his  prayers  and 
exhortations.  When  they  enlisted,  they  were  prom 
ised,  besides  pay  and  provisions,  a  gill  of  rum  a  day, 
which  was  punctually  serv'd  out  to  them,  half  in 
the  morning,  and  the  other  half  in  the  evening ;  and 
I  observ'd  they  were  as  punctual  in  attending  to  re 
ceive  it;  upon  which  I  said  to  Mr.  Beatty,  "  It  is, 
perhaps,  below  the  dignity  of  your  profession  to  act 
as  steward  of  the  rum,  but  if  you  were  to  deal  it  out 
and  only  just  after  prayers,  you  would  have  them 
all  about  you."  He  liked  the  tho't,  undertook  the 
office,  and,  with  the  help  of  a  few  hands  to  measure 
out  the  liquor,  executed  it  to  satisfaction,  and  never 
were  prayers  more  generally  and  more  punctually 
attended ;  so  that  I  thought  this  method  preferable 
to  the  punishment  inflicted  by  some  military  laws  for 
non-attendance  on  divine  service. 

I  had  hardly  finish'd  this  business,  and  got  my 
fort  well  stord  with  provisions,  when  I  receiv'd  a 
letter  from  the  governor,  acquainting  me  that  he  had 
call'd  the  Assembly,  and  wished  my  attendance 
there,  if  the  posture  of  affairs  on  the  frontiers  was 
such  that  my  remaining  there  was  no  longer  neces- 


324  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

sary.  My  friends,  too,  of  the  Assembly,  pressing 
me  by  their  letters  to  be,  if  possible,  at  the  meeting, 
and  my  three  intended  forts  being  now  compleated, 
and  the  inhabitants  contented  to  remain  on  their 
farms  under  that  protection,  I  resolved  to  return  ;  the 
more  willingly,  as  a  New  England  officer,  Colonel 
Clapham,  experienced  in  Indian  war,  being  on  a 
visit  to  our  establishment,  consented  to  accept  the 
command.  I  gave  him  a  commission,  and,  parad 
ing  the  garrison,  had  it  read  before  them,  and  intro- 
duc'd  him  to  them  as  an  officer  who,  from  his  skill 
in  military  affairs,  was  much  more  fit  to  command 
them  than  myself;  and,  giving  them  a  little  exhor 
tation,  took  my  leave.  I  was  escorted  as  far  as 
Bethlehem,  where  I  rested  a  few  days  to  recover 
from  the  fatigue  I  had  undergone.  The  first  night, 
being  in  a  good  bed,  I  could  hardly  sleep,  it  was 
so  different  from  my  hard  lodging  on  the  floor  of 
our  hut  at  Gnaden  wrapt  only  in  a  blanket  or 
two. 

While  at  Bethlehem,  I  inquir'd  a  little  into  the 
practice  of  the  Moravians :  some  of  them  had 
accompanied  me,  and  all  were  very  kind  to  me.  I 
found  they  work'd  for  a  common  stock,  eat  at 
common  tables,  and  slept  in  common  dormitories, 
great  numbers  together.  In  the  dormitories  I  ob 
served  loopholes,  at  certain  distances  all  along  just 
under  the  ceiling,  which  I  thought  judiciously 
placed  for  change  of  air.  I  was  at  their  church, 
where  I  was  entertain'd  with  good  musick,  the 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  325 

organ  being  accompanied  with  violins,  hautboys, 
flutes,  clarinets,  etc.  I  understood  that  their  sermons 
were  not  usually  preached  to  mixed  congregations 
of  men,  women,  and  children,  as  is  our  common 
practice,  but  that  they  assembled  sometimes  the 
married  men,  at  other  times  their  wives,  then  the 
young  men,  the  young  women,  and  the  little  chil 
dren,  each  division  by  itself.  The  sermon  I  heard 
was  to  the  latter,  who  came  in  and  were  plac'd  in 
rows  on  benches ;  the  boys  under  the  conduct  of  a 
young  man,  their  tutor,  and  the  girls  conducted 
by  a  young  woman.  The  discourse  seem'd  well 
adapted  to  their  capacities,  and  was  delivered  in  a 
pleasing,  familiar  manner,  coaxing  them,  as  it  were, 
to  be  good.  They  behav'd  very  orderly,  but  looked 
pale  and  unhealthy,  which  made  me  suspect  they 
were  kept  too  much  within  doors,  or  not  allow'd 
sufficient  exercise. 

I  inquir'd  concerning  the  Moravian  marriages, 
whether  the  report  was  true  that  they  were  by  lot. 
I  was  told  that  lots  were  us'd  only  in  particular 
cases ;  that  generally,  when  a  young  man  found 
himself  dispos'd  to  marry,  he  inform'd  the  elders 
of  his  class,  who  consulted  the  elder  ladies  that 
governed  the  young  women.  As  these  elders  of  the 
different  sexes  were  well  acquainted  with  the  tem 
pers  and  dispositions  of  their  respective  pupils,  they 
could  best  judge  what  matches  were  suitable,  and 
their  judgments  were  generally  acquiesc'd  in  ;  but 
if,  for  example,  it  should  happen  that  two  or  three 

28 


326  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

young  women  were  found  to  be  equally  proper  for 
the  young  man,  the  lot  was  then  recurred  to.  I 
objected,  if  the  matches  are  not  made  by  the  mutual 
choice  of  the  parties,  some  of  them  may  chance  to 
be  very  unhappy.  "And  so  they  may,"  answer'd 
my  informer,  "if  you  let  the  parties  chuse  for  them 
selves  ;"  which,  indeed,  I  could  not  deny. 

Being  returned  to  Philadelphia,  I  found  the  asso 
ciation  went  on  swimmingly,  the  inhabitants  that 
were  not  Quakers  having  pretty  generally  come  into 
it,  formed  themselves  into  companies,  and  chose 
their  captains,  lieutenants,  and  ensigns,  according 
to  the  new  law.  Dr.  B.  visited  me,  and  gave  me 
an  account  of  the  pains  he  had  taken  to  spread  a 
general  good  liking  to  the  law,  and  ascribed  much  to 
those  endeavors.  I  had  had  the  vanity  to  ascribe  all 
to  my  Dialogue;  however,  not  knowing  but  that  he 
might  be  in  the  right,  I  let  him  enjoy  his  opinion, 
which  I  take  to  be  generally  the  best  way  in  such 
cases.  The  officers,  meeting,  chose  me  to  be  colo 
nel  of  the  regiment,  which  I  this  time  accepted.  I 
forget  how  many  companies  we  had,  but  we  paraded 
about  twelve  hundred  well-looking  men,  with  a 
company  of  artillery,  who  had  been  furnished  with 
six  brass  field-pieces,  which  they  had  become  so 
expert  in  the  use  of  as  to  fire  twelve  times  in  a 
minute.  The  first  time  I  reviewed  my  regiment 
they  accompanied  me  to  my  house,  and  would  salute 
me  with  some  rounds  fired  before  my  door,  which 
shook  down  and  broke  several  glasses  of  my  elec- 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  327 

trical  apparatus.  And  my  new  honour  proved  not 
much  less  brittle  ;  for  all  our  commissions  were  soon 
after  broken  by  a  repeal  of  the  law  in  England. 

During  this  short  time  of  my  colonelship,  being 
about  to  set  out  on  a  journey  to  Virginia,  the  officers 
of  my  regiment  took  it  into  their  heads  that  it  would 
be  proper  for  them  to  escort  me  out  of  town,  as  far 
as  the  Lower  Ferry.  Just  as  I  was  getting  on  horse 
back  they  came  to  my  door,  between  thirty  and 
forty,  mounted,  and  all  in  their  uniforms.  I  had 
not  been  previously  acquainted  with  the  project,  or 
I  should  have  prevented  it,  being  naturally  averse 
to  the  assuming  of  state  on  any  occasion  ;  and  I  was 
a  good  deal  chagrin'd  at  their  appearance,  as  I 
could  not  avoid  their  accompanying  me.  What 
made  it  worse  was,  that,  as  soon  as  we  began  to 
move,  they  drew  their  swords  and  rode  with  them 
naked  all  the  way.  Somebody  wrote  an  account 
of  this  to  the  proprietor,  and  it  gave  him  great 
offense.  No  such  honor  had  been  paid  him  when 
in  the  province,  nor  to  any  of  his  governors  ;  and 
he  said  it  was  only  proper  to  princes  of  the  blood 
royal,  which  may  be  true  for  aught  I  know,  who 
was,  and  still  am,  ignorant  of  the  etiquette  in  such 
cases. 

This  silly  affair,  however,  greatly  increased  his 
rancour  against  me,  which  was  before  not  a  little, 
on  account  of  my  conduct  in  the  Assembly  respect 
ing  the  exemption  of  his  estate  from  taxation,  which 
I  had  always  oppos'd  very  warmly,  and  not  with- 


328  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

out  severe  reflections  on  his  meanness  and  injustice 
of  contending  for  it.  He  accused  me  to  the  minis 
try  as  being  the  great  obstacle  to  the  king's  service, 
preventing,  by  my  influence  in  the  House,  the  proper 
form  of  the  bills  for  raising  money,  and  he  instanced 
this  parade  with  my  officers  as  a  proof  of  my  having 
an  intention  to  take  the  government  of  the  province 
out  of  his  hands  by  force.  He  also  applied  to  Sir 
Everard  Fawkener,  the  postmaster-general,  to  de 
prive  me  of  my  office ;  but  it  had  no  other  effect 
than  to  procure  from  Sir  Everard  a  gentle  ad 
monition. 

Notwithstanding  the  continual  wrangle  between 
the  governor  and  the  House,  in  which  I,  as  a  mem 
ber,  had  so  large  a  share,  there  still  subsisted  a  civil 
intercourse  between  that  gentleman  and  myself,  and 
we  never  had  any  personal  difference.  I  have  some 
times  since  thought  that  his  little  or  no  resentment 
against  me,  for  the  answers  it  was  known  I  drew  up 
to  his  messages,  might  be  the  effect  of  professional 
habit,  and  that,  being  bred  a  lawyer,  he  might  con 
sider  us  both  as  merely  advocates  for  contending 
clients  in  a  suit,  he  for  the  proprietaries  and  I  for 
the  Assembly.  He  would,  therefore,  sometimes  call 
in  a  friendly  way  to  advise  with  me  on  difficult 
points,  and  sometimes,  tho'  not  often,  take  my 
advice. 

We  acted  in  concert  to  supply  Braddock's  army 
with  provisions ;  and,  when  the  shocking  news  ar 
rived  of  his  defeat,  the  governor  sent  in  haste  for 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  329 

me,  to  consult  with  him  on  measures  for  preventing 
the  desertion  of  the  back  counties.  I  forget  now 
the  advice  I  gave ;  but  I  think  it  was,  that  Dunbar 
should  be  written  to,  and  prevail'd  with,  if  possible, 
to  post  his  troops  on  the  frontiers  for  their  protec 
tion,  till,  by  re-enforcements  from  the  colonies,  he 
might  be  able  to  proceed  on  the  expedition.  And, 
after  my  return  from  the  frontier,  he  would  have  had 
me  undertake  the  conduct  of  such  an  expedition 
with  provincial  troops,  for  the  reduction  of  Fort  Du- 
quesne,  Dunbar  and  his  men  being  otherwise  em 
ployed  ;  and  he  proposed  to  commission  me  as 
general.  I  had  not  so  good  an  opinion  of  my  mili 
tary  abilities  as  he  profess'd  to  have,  and  I  believe 
his  professions  must  have  exceeded  his  real  senti 
ments  ;  but  probably  he  might  think  that  my  popu 
larity  would  facilitate  the  raising  of  the  men,  and 
my  influence  in  Assembly,  the  grant  of  money  to 
pay  them,  and  that,  perhaps,  without  taxing  the 
proprietary  estate.  Finding  me  not  so  forward  to 
engage  as  he  expected,  the  project  was  dropt, 
and  he  soon  after  left  the  government,  being  super 
seded  by  Captain  Denny. 

Before  I  proceed  in  relating  the  part  I  had  in 
public  affairs  under  this  new  governor's  administra 
tion,  it  may  not  be  amiss  here  to  give  some  account 
of  the  rise  and  progress  of  my  philosophical  repu 
tation. 

In  1746,  being  at  Boston,  I  met  there  with  a  Dr. 
Spence,  who  was  lately  arrived  from  Scotland,  and 


33°  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

show'd  me  some  electric  experiments.  They  were 
imperfectly  perform'd,  as  he  was  not  very  expert ; 
but,  being  on  a  subject  quite  new  to  me,  they 
equally  surpris'd  and  pleased  me.  Soon  after  my 
return  to  Philadelphia,  our  library  company  receiv'd 
from  Mr.  P.  Collinson,  Fellow  of  the  Royal  Society 
of  London,  a  present  of  a  glass  tube,  with  some  ac 
count  of  the  use  of  it  in  making  such  experiments. 
I  eagerly  seized  the  opportunity  of  repeating  what 
I  had  seen  at  Boston;  and,  by  much  practice,  ac- 
quir'd  great  readiness  in  performing  those,  also, 
which  we  had  an  account  of  from  England,  adding 
a  number  of  new  ones.  I  say  much  practice,  for 
my  house  was  continually  full,  for  some  time,  with 
people  who  came  to  see  these  new  wonders. 

To  divide  a  little  this  incumbrance  among  my 
friends,  I  caused  a  number  of  similar  tubes  to  be 
blown  at  our  glass-house,  with  which  they  furnish'd 
themselves,  so  that  we  had  at  length  several  per 
formers.  Among  these,  the  principal  was  Mr. 
Kinnersley,  an  ingenious  neighbor,  who,  being  out 
of  business,  I  encouraged  to  undertake  showing 
the  experiments  for  money,  and  drew  up  for  him 
two  lectures,  in  which  the  experiments  were  ranged 
in  such  order,  and  accompanied  with  such  explana 
tions  in  such  method,  as  that  the  foregoing  should  as 
sist  in  comprehending  the  following.  He  procur'd 
an  elegant  apparatus  for  the  purpose,  in  which  all  the 
little  machines  that  I  had  roughly  made  for  myself 
were  nicely  form'd  by  instrument-makers.  His 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  331 

lectures  were  well  attended,  and  gave  great  satis 
faction  ;  and  after  some  time  he  went  thro'  the 
colonies,  exhibiting  them  in  every  capital  town,  and 
pick'd  up  some  money.  In  the  West  India  islands, 
indeed,  it  was  with  difficulty  the  experiments  could 
be  made,  from  the  general  moisture  of  the  air. 

Oblig'd  as  we  were  to  Mr.  Collinson  for  his  pre 
sent  of  the  tube,  etc.,  I  thought  it  right  he  should  be 
inform'd  of  our  success  in  using  it,  and  wrote  him 
several  letters  containing  accounts  of  our  experi 
ments.  He  got  them  read  in  the  Royal  Society, 
where  they  were  not  at  first  thought  worth  so  much 
notice  as  to  be  printed  in  their  Transactions.  One 
paper,  which  I  wrote  for  Mr.  Kinnersley,  on  the 
sameness  of  lightning  with  electricity,  I  sent  to  Dr. 
Mitchel,  an  acquaintance  of  mine,  and  one  of  the 
members  also  of  that  society,  who  wrote  me  word 
that  it  had  been  read,  but  was  laughed  at  by  the 
connoisseurs.  The  papers,  however,  being  shown 
to  Dr.  Fothergill,  he  thought  them  of  too  much 
value  to  be  stifled,  and  advis'd  the  printing  of  them. 
Mr.  Collinson  then  gave  them  to  Cave  for  publica 
tion  in  his  Gentleman's  Magazine  ;  but  he  chose  to 
print  them  separately  in  a  pamphlet,  and  Dr.  Foth 
ergill  wrote  the  preface.  Cave,  it  seems,  judged 
rightly  for  his  profit,  for  by  the  additions  that  arrived 
afterward,  they  swell'd  to  a  quarto  volume,  which 
has  had  five  editions,  and  cost  him  nothing  for 
copy-money. 

It  was,  however,  some  time  before  those  papers 


33 3  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

were  much  taken  notice  of  in  England.  A  copy  of 
them  happening  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Count 
de  BufFon,  a  philosopher  deservedly  of  great  reputa 
tion  in  France,  and,  indeed,  all  over  Europe,  he 
prevailed  with  M.  Dalibard  to  translate  them  into 
French,  and  they  were  printed  at  Paris.  The  pub 
lication  offended  the  Abbe  Nollet,  preceptor  in 
Natural  Philosophy  to  the  royal  family,  and  an  able 
experimenter,  who  had  form'd  and  publish'd  a 
theory  of  electricity,  which  then  had  the  general 
vogue.  He  could  not  at  first  believe  that  such  a 
work  came  from  America,  and  said  it  must  have 
been  fabricated  by  his  enemies  at  Paris,  to  decry 
his  system.  Afterwards,  having  been  assur'd  that 
there  really  existed  such  a  person  as  Franklin  at 
Philadelphia,  which  he  had  doubted,  he  wrote  and 
published  a  volume  of  Letters,  chiefly  address'd  -to 
me,  defending  his  theory,  and  denying  the  verity 
of  my  experiments,  and  of  the  positions  deduc'd 
from  them. 

I  once  purpos'd  answering  the  abbe,  and  actually 
began  the  answer ;  but,  on  consideration  that  my 
writings  contain'd  a  description  of  experiments 
which  any  one  might  repeat  and  verify,  and  if  not 
to  be  verifi'd,  could  not  be  defended  ;  or  of  observa 
tions  offer'd  as  conjectures,  and  not  delivered  dog 
matically,  therefore  not  laying  me  under  any  obliga 
tion  to  defend  them  ;  and  reflecting  that  a  dispute 
between  two  persons,  writing  in  different  languages, 
might  be  lengthened  greatly  by  mistranslations,  and 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  333 

thence  misconceptions  of  one  another's  meaning, 
much  of  one  of  the  abbe's  letters  being  founded  on 
an  error  in  the  translation,  I  concluded  to  let  my 
papers  shift  for  themselves,  believing  it  was  better 
to  spend  what  time  I  could  spare  from  public  busi 
ness  in  making  new  experiments,  than  in  disputing 
about  those  already  made.  I  therefore  never  an 
swered  M.  Nollet,  and  the  event  gave  me  no  cause 
to  repent  my  silence  ;  for  my  friend  M.  le  Roy,  of 
the  Royal  Academy  of  Sciences,  took  up  my  cause 
and  refuted  him  ;  my  book  was  translated  into  the 
Italian,  German,  and  Latin  languages  ;  and  the  doc 
trine  it  contain'd  was  by  degrees  universally  adopted 
by  the  philosophers  of  Europe,  in  preference  to  that 
of  the  abbe  ;  so  that  he  lived  to  see  himself  the  last 

of  his  sect,  except  Monsieur  B ,  of  Paris,  his 

eleve  and  immediate  disciple. 

What  gave  my  book  the  more  sudden  and  gen 
eral  celebrity,  was  the  success  of  one  of  its  proposed 
experiments,  made  by  Messrs.  Dalibard  and  De  Lor 
at  Marly,  for  drawing  lightning  from  the  clouds. 
This  engag'd  the  public  attention  every  where.  M. 
de  Lor,  who  had  an  apparatus  for  experimental 
philosophy,  and  lectur'd  in  that  branch  of  science, 
undertook  to  repeat  what  he  called  the  Philadelphia 
Experiments;  and,  after  they  were  performed  be 
fore  the  king  and  court,  all  the  curious  of  Paris 
flocked  to  see  them.  I  will  not  swell  this  narrative 
with  an  account  of  that  capital  experiment,  nor  of 
the  infinite  pleasure  I  received  in  the  success  of  a 


334  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

similar  one  I  made  soon  after  with  a  kite  at  Phila 
delphia,  as  both  are  to  be  found  in  the  histories  of 
electricity. 

Dr.  Wright,  an  English  physician,  when  at  Paris, 
wrote  to  a  friend,  who  was  of  the  Royal  Society,  an 
account  of  the  high  esteem  my  experiments  \vere  in 
among  the  learned  abroad,  and  of  their  wonder  that 
my  writings  had  been  so  little  noticed  in  England. 
The  society,  on  this,  resum'd  the  consideration  of 
the  letters  that  had  been  read  to  them  ;  and  the  cele 
brated  Dr.  Watson  drew  up  a  summary  account  of 
them,  and  of  all  I  had  afterwards  sent  to  England  on 
the  subject,  which  he  accompained  with  some  praise 
of  the  writer.  This  summary  was  then  printed  in 
their  Transactions  ;  and  some  members  of  the  society 
in  London,  particularly  the  very  ingenious  Mr.  Can 
ton,  having  verified  the  experiment  of  procuring 
lightning  from  the  clouds  by  a  pointed  rod,  and  ac 
quainting  them  with  the  success,  they  soon  made  me 
more  than  amends  for  the  slight  with  which  they 
had  before  treated  me.  Without  my  having  made 
any  application  for  that  honor,  they  chose  me  a 
member,  and  voted  that  I  should  be  excus'd  the 
customary  payments,  which  would  have  amounted 
to  twenty-five  guineas ;  and  ever  since  have  given 
me  their  Transactions  gratis.*  They  also  pre- 


*  Dr.  Franklin  gives  a  further  account  of  his  election  in  a  letter  to  his 
son,  Governor  Franklin,  from  which  the  following  is  an  extract  : 

"  LONDON,  19  December,  1767. 
"  We  have   had  an  ugly  affair  at  the    Royal    Society  lately.      One 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  335 

sented  me  with  the  gold  medal  of  Sir  Godfrey  Cop 
ley  for  the  year  1753,  the  delivery  of  which  was 
accompanied  by  a  very  handsome  speech*  of  the 
president,  Lord  Macclesfield,  wherein  I  was  highly 
honoured. 

Our  new  governor,  Captain  Denny,  brought  over 


Dacosta,  a  Jew,  who,  as  our  clerk,  was  intrusted  with  collecting  our 
moneys,  has  been  so  unfaithful  as  to  embezzle  near  thirteen  hundred 
pounds  in  four  years.  Being  one  of  the  Council  this  year,  as  well  as 
the  last,  I  have  been  employed  all  the  last  week  in  attending  the  inquiry 
into,  and  unravelling,  his  accounts,  in  order  to  come  at  a  full  knowledge 
of  his  frauds.  His  securities  are  bound  in  one  thousand  pounds  to  the 
Society,  which  they  will  pay,  but  we  shall  probably  lose  the  rest  He 
had  this  year  received  twenty-six  admission  payments  of  twenty-five 
guineas  each,  which  he  did  not  bring  to  account. 

"  While  attending  to  this  affair,  I  had  an  opportunity  of  looking  over 
the  old  Council  books  and  journals  of  the  Society,  and,  having  a 
curiosity  to  see  how  I  came  in,  of  which  I  had  never  been  informed,  I 
looked  back  for  the  minutes  relating  to  it.  You  must  know,  it  is  not 
usual  to  admit  persons  that  have  not  requested  to  be  admitted  ;  and  a 
recommendatory  certificate  in  favor  of  the  candidate,  signed  by  at  least 
three  of  the  members,  is  by  our  rule  to  be  presented  to  the  Society, 
expressing  that  he  is  desirous  of  that  honor,  and  is  so  and  so  qualified. 
As  I  never  had  asked  or  expected  the  honor,  I  was,  as  I  said  before, 
curious  to  see  how  the  business  was  managed.  I  found  that  the  certifi 
cate,  worded  very  advantageously  for  me,  was  signed  by  Lord  Maccles 
field,  then  president,  Lord  Parker,  and  Lord  Willoughby ;  that  the 
election  was  by  a  unanimous  vote  ;  and,  the  honor  being  voluntarily 
conferred  by  the  Society,  unsolicited  by  me,  it  was  thought  wrong  to 
demand  or  receive  the  usual  fees  or  composition  ;  so  that  my  name  was 
entered  on  the  list,  with  a  vote  of  Council  that  I  was  not  to  pay  any 
thing,  and  accordingly  nothing  has  ever  been  demanded  of  me.  Those 
who  are  admitted  in  the  common  way,  pay  five  guineas  admission  fees, 
and  two  guineas  and  a  half  yearly  contribution,  or  twenty-five  guineas 
down  in  lieu  of  it.  In  my  case  a  substantial  favor  accompanied  the 
honor." — W.  T.  F. 

*  See  this  speech  in  vol.  v.  p.  499,  Sparks'  IVorks  of  Franklin. — B. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

for  me  the  before-mentioned  medal  from  the  Royal 
Society,  which  he  presented  to  me  at  an  entertain 
ment  given  him  by  the  city.  He  accompanied  it 
with  very  polite  expressions  of  his  esteem  for  me, 
having,  as  he  said,  been  long  acquainted  with  my 
character.  After  dinner,  when  the  company,  as 
was  customary  at  that  time,  were  engag'd  in  drink 
ing,  he  took  me  aside  into  another  room,  and  ac 
quainted  me  that  he  had  been  advis'd  by  his  friends 
in  England  to  cultivate  a  friendship  with  me,  as  one 
who  was  capable  of  giving  him  the  best  advice,  and 
of  contributing  most  effectually  to  the  making  his 
administration  easy  ;  that  he  therefore  desired  of  all 
things  to  have  a  good  understanding  with  me,  and 
he  begg'd  me  to  be  assurd  of  his  readiness  on  all 
occasions  to  render  me  every  service  that  might  be 
in  his  power.  Fie  said  much  to  me,  also,  of  the 
proprietor's  good  disposition  towards  the  province, 
and  of  the  advantage  it  might  be  to  us  all,  and  to 
me  in  particular,  if  the  opposition  that  had  been 
so  long  continu'd  to  his  measures  was  dropt,  and 
harmony  restor'd  between  him  and  the  people ;  in 
effecting  which,  it  was  thought  no  one  could  be 
more  serviceable  than  myself;  and  I  might  depend 
on  adequate  acknowledgments  and  recompenses, 
etc.,  etc.  The  drinkers,  finding  we  did  not  return 
immediately  to  the  table,  sent  us  a  decanter  of  Ma 
deira,  which  the  governor  made  liberal  use  of, 
and  in  proportion  became  more  profuse  of  his  solici 
tations  and  promises. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  337 

My  answers  were  to  this  purpose :  that  my  cir 
cumstances,  thanks  to  God,  were  such  as  to  make 
proprietary  favours  unnecessary  to  me ;  and  that, 
being  a  member  of  the  Assembly,  I  could  not  possi 
bly  accept  of  any ;  that,  however,  I  had  no  personal 
enmity  to  the  proprietary,  and  that,  whenever  the 
public  measures  he  propos'd  should  appear  to  be 
for  the  good  of  the  people,  no  one  should  espouse 
and  forward  them  more  zealously  than  myself;  my 
past  opposition  having  been  founded  on  this,  that 
the  measures  which  had  been  urged  were  evidently 
intended  to  serve  the  proprietary  interest,  with  great 
prejudice  to  that  of  the  people  ;  that  I  was  much 
obliged  to  him  (the  governor)  for  his  professions  of 
regard  to  me,  and  that  he  might  rely  on  every  thing 
in  my  power  to  make  his  administration  as  easy  as 
possible,  hoping  at  the  same  time  that  he  had  not 
brought  with  him  the  same  unfortunate  instruction 
his  predecessor  had  been  hamper'd  with. 

On  this  he  did  not  then  explain  himself;  but 
when  he  afterwards  came  to  do  business  with  the 
Assembly,  they  appear'd  again,  the  disputes  were 
renewed,  and  I  was  as  active  as  ever  in  the  opposi 
tion,  being  the  penman,  first,  of  the  request  to  have 
a  communication  of  the  instructions,  and  then  of 
the  remarks  upon  them,  which  may  be  found  in  the 
votes  of  the  time,  and  in  the  Historical  Review  I 
afterward  publish'd.  But  between  us  personally 
no  enmity  arose  ;  we  were  often  together ;  he  was  a 
man  of  letters,  had  seen  much  of  the  world,  and 

29  P 


338  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

was  very  entertaining  and  pleasing  in  conversation. 
He  gave  me  the  first  information  that  my  old  friend 
Jas.  Ralph  was  still  alive  ;  that  he  was  esteem'd  one 
of  the  best  political  writers  in  England  ;  had  been  em- 
ploy'd  in  the  dispute  between  Prince  Frederic  and  the 
king,  and  had  obtain'd  a  pension  of  three  hundred  a 
year  ;  that  his  reputation  was  indeed  small  as  a  poet, 
Pope  having  damned  his  poetry  in  the  Dunciad ;  but 
his  prose  was  thought  as  good  as  any  man's. 

*  The  Assembly  finally  finding  the  proprietary 
obstinately  persisted  in  manacling  their  deputies  with 
instructions  inconsistent  not  only  with  the  privileges 
of  the  people,  but  with  the  service  of  the  crown, 
resolv'd  to  petition  the  king  against  them,  and 
appointed  me  their  agent  to  go  over  to  England,  to 
present  and  support  the  petition.  The  House  had 
sent  up  a  bill  to  the  governor,  granting  a  sum  of 
sixty  thousand  pounds  for  the  king's  use  (ten  thou 
sand  pounds  of  which  was  subjected  to  the  orders 
of  the  then  general,  Lord  Loudoun),  which  the 
governor  absolutely  refus'd  to  pass,  in  compliance 
with  his  instructions. 

I  had  agreed  with  Captain  Morris,  of  the  paquet 
at  New  York,  for  my  passage,  and  my  stores  were 
put  on  board,  when  Lord  Loudoun  arriv'd  at  Phila 
delphia,  expressly,  as  he  told  me,  to  endeavor  an 
accommodation  between  the  governor  and  Assem- 


*  The   many  unanimous   resolves  of  the   Assembly — what  date  ? — 
[Marg.  notc.\ 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  339 

bly,  that  his  majesty's  service  might  not  be  ob 
structed  by  their  dissensions.  Accordingly,  he 
desir'd  the  governor  and  myself  to  meet  him,  that 
he  might  hear  what  was  to  be  said  on  both  sides. 
We  met  and  discuss'd  the  business.  In  behalf  of 
the  Assembly,  I  urg'd  all  the  various  arguments  that 
may  be  found  in  the  public  papers  of  that  time, 
which  were  of  my  writing,  and  are  printed  with  the 
minutes  of  the  Assembly  ;  and  the  governor  pleaded 
his  instructions  ;  the  bond  he  had  given  to  observe 
them,  and  his  ruin  if  he  disobey'd,  yet  seemed  not 
unwilling  to  hazard  himself  if  Lord  Loudoun  \vould 
advise  it.  This  his  lordship  did  not  chuse  to  do, 
though  I  once  thought  I  had  nearly  prevailed  with 
him  to  do  it ;  but  finally  he  rather  chose  to  urge  the 
compliance  of  the  Assembly  ;  and  he  entreated  me 
to  use  my  endeavours  with  them  for  that  purpore, 
declaring  that  he  would  spare  none  of  the  king's 
troops  for  the  defense  of  our  frontiers,  and  that,  if 
we  did  not  continue  to  provide  for  that  defense  our 
selves,  they  must  remain  expos'd  to  the  enemy. 

I  acquainted  the  House  with  what  had  pass'd, 
and,  presenting  them  with  a  set  of  resolutions  I  had 
drawn  up,  declaring  our  rights,  and  that  we  did 
not  relinquish  our  claim  to  those  rights,  but  only 
suspended  the  exercise  of  them  on  this  occasion 
thro'  force,  against  which  we  protested,  they  at 
length  agreed  to  drop  that  bill,  and  frame  another 
conformable  to  the  proprietary  instructions.  This 
of  course  the  governor  pass'd,  and  I  was  then  at 


34°  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

liberty  to  proceed  on  my  voyage.  But,  in  the  mean 
time,  the  paquet  had  sailed  with  my  sea-stores, 
which  \vas  some  loss  to  me,  and  my  only  recom 
pense  was  his  lordship's  thanks  for  my  service,  all 
the  credit  of  obtaining  the  accommodation  falling  to 
his  share. 

He  set  out  for  New  York  before  me ;  and,  as  the 
time  for  dispatching  the  paquet-boats  was  at  his  dis 
position,  and  there  were  two  then  remaining  there, 
one  of  which,  he  said,  was  to  sail  very  soon,  I  re 
quested  to  know  the  precise  time,  that  I  might  not 
miss  her  by  any  delay  of  mine.  His  answer  was, 
"  I  have  given  out  that  she  is  to  sail  on  Saturday 
next;  but  I  may  let  you  know,  cntre  nous,  that  if 
you  are  there  by  Monday  morning,  you  will  be  in 
time,  but  do  not  delay  longer."  By  some  accidental 
hinderance  at  a  ferry,  it  was  Monday  noon  before  I 
arrived,  and  I  was  much  afraid  she  might  have 
sailed,  as  the  wind  was  fair ;  but  I  was  soon  made 
easy  by  the  information  that  she  was  still  in  the 
harbor,  and  would  not  move  till  the  next  day.  One 
would  imagine  that  I  was  now  on  the  very  point  of 
departing  for  Europe.  I  thought  so  ;  but  I  was  not 
then  so  well  acquainted  with  his  lordship's  character, 
of  which  indecision  was  one  of  the  strongest  fea 
tures.  I  shall  give  some  instances.  It  was  about 
the  beginning  of  April  that  I  came  to  New  York, 
and  I  think  it  was  near  the  end  of  June  before  we 
sail'd.  There  were  then  two  of  the  paquet-boats, 
which  had  been  long  in  port,  but  were  detained  for 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  341 

the  general's  letters,  which  were  always  to  be  ready 
to-morrow.  Another  paquet  arriv'd ;  she  too  was 
detain'd  ;  and,  before  we  sail'd,  a  fourth  was  ex 
pected.  Ours  was  the  first  to  be  dispatch'd,  as 
having  been  there  longest.  Passengers  were  en- 
gag'd  in  all,  and  some  extremely  impatient  to  be 
gone,  and  the  merchants  uneasy  about  their  letters, 
and  the  orders  they  had  given  for  insurance  (it  being 
war  time)  for  fall  goods  ;  but  their  anxiety  avail'd 
nothing  ;  his  lordship's  letters  were  not  ready  ;  and 
yet  whoever  waited  on  him  found  him  always  at  his 
desk,  pen  in  hand,  and  concluded  he  must  needs 
write  abundantly. 

Going  myself  one  morning  to  pay  my  respects,  I 
found  in  his  antechamber  one  Innis,  a  messenger  of 
Philadelphia,  who  had  come  from  thence  express  with 
a  paquet  from  Governor  Denny  for  the  General.  He 
delivered  to  me  some  letters  from  my  friends  there, 
which  occasion'd  my  inquiring  when  he  was  to  re 
turn,  and  where  he  lodg'd,  that  I  might  send  some 
letters  by  him.  He  told  me  he  was  order'd  to  call 
to-morrow  at  nine  for  the  general's  answer  to  the 
governor,  and  should  set  off  immediately.  I  put  my 
letters  into  his  hands  the  same  day.  A  fortnight 
after  I  met  him  again  in  the  same  place.  "  So,  you 
are  soon  return'd,  Innis  ?"  "Returned!  no,  I  am 
not  gone  yet."  "  How  so?"  "  I  have  called  here 
by  order  every  morning  these  two  weeks  past  for  his 
lordship's  letter,  and  it  is  not  yet  ready."  "  Is  it 
possible,  when  he  is  so  great  a  writer?  for  I  see  him 

29* 


342  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

constantly  at  his  escritoire."  "Yes,"  says  Innis, 
"  but  he  is  like  St.  George  on  the  signs,  always  on 
horseback,  and  never  rides  on."  This  observation 
of  the  messenger  was,  it  seems,  well  founded ;  for, 
when  in  England,  I  understood  that  Mr.  Pitt  gave 
it  as  one  reason  for  removing  this  general,  and  send 
ing  Generals  Amherst  and  Wolfe,  that  the  minister 
never  heard  from  him,  and  could  not  know  what  he 
was  doing. 

This  daily  expectation  of  sailing,  and  all  the  three 
paquets  going  down  to  Sandy  Hook,  to  join  the 
fleet  there,  the  passengers  thought  it  best  to  be  on 
board,  lest  by  a  sudden  order  the  ships  should  sail, 
and  they  be  left  behind.  There,  if  I  remember  right, 
we  were  about  six  weeks,  consuming  our  sea-stores, 
and  oblig'd  to  procure  more.  At  length  the  fleet 
sail'd,  the  General  and  all  his  army  on  board,  bound 
to  Louisburg,  with  intent  to  besiege  and  take  that 
fortress  ;  all  the  paquet-boats  in  company  ordered  to 
attend  the  General's  ship,  ready  to  receive  his  dis 
patches  when  they  should  be  ready.  We  were  out 
five  days  before  we  got  a  letter  with  leave  to  part, 
and  then  our  ship  quitted  the  fleet  and  steered  for 
England.  The  other  two  paquets  he  still  detained, 
carried  them  with  him  to  Halifax,  where  he  stayed 
some  time  to  exercise  the  men  in  sham  attacks  upon 
sham  forts,  then  alter'd  his  mind  as  to  besieging  Lou 
isburg,  and  return'd  to  New  York,  with  all  his  troops, 
together  with  the  two  paquets  above  mentioned,  and 
all  their  passengers  !  During  his  absence  the  French 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  343 

and  savages  had  taken  Fort  George,  on  the  frontier 
of  that  province,  and  the  savages  had  massacred 
many  of  the  garrison  after  capitulation. 

I  saw  afterwards  in  London  Captain  Bonnell,  who 
commanded  one  of  those  paquets.  He  told  me  that, 
when  he  had  been  detain'd  a  month,  he  acquainted 
his  lordship  that  his  ship  was  grown  foul,  to  a  de 
gree  that  must  necessarily  hinder  her  fast  sailing,  a 
point  of  consequence  for  a  paquet-boat,  and  re 
quested  an  allowance  of  time  to  heave  her  down  and 
clean  her  bottom.  He  was  asked  how  long  time 
that  would  require.  He  answer'd,  three  days. 
The  general  replied,  "  If  you  can  do  it  in  one  day, 
I  give  leave  ;  otherwise  not ;  for  you  must  certainly 
sail  the  day  after  to-morrow."  So  he  never  obtain'd 
leave,  though  detained  afterwards  from  day  to  day 
during  full  three  months. 

I  saw  also  in  London  one  of  Bonnell's  passengers, 
who  was  so  enrag'd  against  his  lordship  for  deceiv 
ing  and  detaining  him  so  long  at  New  York,  and 
then  carrying  him  to  Halifax  and  back  again,  that 
he  swore  he  would  sue  him  for  damages.  Whether 
he  did  or  not,  I  never  heard  ;  but,  as  he  represented 
the  injury  to  his  affairs,  it  was  very  considerable. 

On  the  whole,  I  wonder'd  much  how  such  a 
man  came  to  be  intrusted  with  so  important  a 
business  as  the  conduct  of  a  great  army ;  but, 
having  since  seen  more  of  the  great  world,  and 
the  means  of  obtaining,  and  motives  for  giving 
places,  my  wonder  is  diminished.  General  Shirley, 


344  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

on  whom  the  command  of  the  army  devolved  upon 
the  death  of  Braddock,  would,  in  my  opinion,  if 
continued  in  place,  have  made  a  much  better  cam 
paign  than  that  of  Loudoun  in  1757,  which  was 
frivolous,  expensive,  and  disgraceful  to  our  nation 
beyond  conception ;  for,  tho'  Shirley  was  not  a 
bred  soldier,  he  was  sensible  and  sagacious  in  him 
self,  and  attentive  to  good  advice  from  others,  capa 
ble  of  forming  judicious  plans,  and  quick  and  active 
in  carrying  them  into  execution.  Loudoun,  instead 
of  defending  the  colonies  with  his  great  army,  left 
them  totally  expos'd,  while  he  paraded  idly  at  Hali 
fax,  by  which  means  Fort  George  was  lost,  besides, 
he  derang'd  all  our  mercantile  operations,  and  dis- 
tress'd  our  trade,  by  a  long  embargo  on  the  expor 
tation  of  provisions,  on  pretence  of  keeping  supplies 
from  being  obtain'd  by  the  enemy,  but  in  reality  for 
beating  down  their  price  in  favor  of  the  contractors, 
in  whose  profits,  it  was  said,  perhaps  from  suspicion 
only,  he  had  a  share.  And,  when  at  length  the  em 
bargo  was  taken  oft',  by  neglecting  to  send  notice  of 
it  to  Charlestown,  the  Carolina  fleet  was  detain'd 
near  three  months  longer,  whereby  their  bottoms 
were  so  much  damaged  by  the  worm  that  a  great 
part  of  them  foundered  in  their  passage  home. 

Shirley  was,  I  believe,  sincerely  glad  of  being  re 
lieved  from  so  burdensome  a  charge  as  the  conduct 
of  an  army  must  be  to  a  man  unacquainted  with 
military  business.  I  was  at  the  entertainment  given 
by  the  city  of  New  York  to  Lord  Loudoun,  on  his 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  345 

taking  upon  him  the  command.  Shirley,  tho' 
thereby  superseded,  was  present  also.  There  was 
a  great  company  of  officers,  citizens,  and  strangers, 
and,  some  chairs  having  been  borrowed  in  the 
neighborhood,  there  was  one  among  them  very  low, 
which  fell  to  the  lot  of  Mr.  Shirley.  Perceiving  it 
as  I  sat  by  him,  I  said,  "  They  have  given  you,  sir, 
too  low  a  seat."  "No  matter,"  says  he,  "Mr. 
Franklin,  I  find  a  low  seat  the  easiest." 

While  I  was,  as  afore  mention'd,  detain'd  at 
New  York,  I  received  all  the  accounts  of  the  pro 
visions,  etc.,  that  I  had  furnish'd  to  Braddock,  some 
of  which  accounts  could  not  sooner  be  obtain'd  from 
the  different  persons  I  had  employ'd  to  assist  in 
the  business.  I  presented  them  to  Lord  Loudoun, 
desiring  to  be  paid  the  ballance.  He  caus'd  them 
to  be  regularly  examined  by  the  proper  officer,  who, 
after  comparing  every  article  with  its  voucher,  cer 
tified  them  to  be  right ;  and  the  balance  due  for 
which  his  lordship  promis'd  to  give  me  an  order  on 
the  paymaster.  This  was,  however,  put  off  from 
time  to  time ;  and,  tho'  I  call'd  often  for  it  by 
appointment,  I  did  not  get  it.  At  length,  just  be 
fore  my  departure,  he  told  me  he  had,  on  better 
consideration,  concluded  not  to  mix  his  accounts 
with  those  of  his  predecessors.  "And  you,"  says 
he,  "when  in  England,  have  only  to  exhibit  your 
accounts  at  the  treasury,  and  you  will  be  paid 
immediately." 

I  mention'd,  but  without  effect,  the  great  and  unex- 

P  * 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

pected  expense  I  had  been  put  to  by  being  detain'd 
so  long  at  New  York,  as  a  reason  for  my  desiring  to 
be  presently  paid ;  and  on  my  observing  that  it  was 
not  right  I  should  be  put  to  any  further  trouble  or 
delay  in  obtaining  the  money  I  had  advanc'd,  as  I 
charged  no  commission  for  my  service.  "  O,  sir," 
says  he,  "  you  must  not  think  of  persuading  us  t^°' 
you  are  no  gainer  ;  we  understand  better  those  affairs, 
and  know  that  every  one  concerned  in  supplying 
the  army  finds  means,  in  the  doing  it,  to  fill  his  own 
pockets."  I  assur'd  him  that  was  not  my  case,  and 
that  I  had  not  pocketed  a  farthing ;  but  he  appear'd 
clearly  not  to  believe  me ;  and,  indeed,  I  have  since 
learnt  that  immense  fortunes  are  often  made  in 
such  employments.  As  to  my  ballance,  I  am  not 
paid  it  to  this  day,  of  which  more  hereafter. 

Our  captain  of  the  paquet  had  boasted  much,  be 
fore  we  sailed,  of  the  swiftness  of  his  ship  ;  unfor 
tunately,  when  we  came  to  sea,  she  proved  the 
dullest  of  ninety-six  sail,  to  his  no  small  mortifica 
tion.  After  many  conjectures  respecting  the  cause, 
when  we  were  near  another  ship  almost  as  dull  as 
ours,  which,  however,  gain'd  upon  us,  the  captain 
ordered  all  hands  to  come  aft,  and  stand  as  near  the 
ensign  staff  as  possible.  We  were,  passengers  in 
cluded,  about  forty  persons.  While  we  stood  there, 
the  ship  mended  her  pace,  and  soon  left  her  neigh 
bour  far  behind,  which  prov'd  clearly  what  our 
captain  suspected,  that  she  was  loaded  too  much  by 
the  head.  The  casks  of  water,  it  seems,  had  been 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  347 

all  plac'd  forward ;  these  he  therefore  order'd  to  be 
mov'd  further  aft,  on  which  the  ship  recover'd  her 
character,  and  proved  the  best  sailer  in  the  fleet. 

The  captain  said  she  had  once  gone  at  the 
rate  of  thirteen  knots,  which  is  accounted  thir 
teen  miles  per  hour.  We  had  on  board,  as  a  pas- 
senger,  Captain  Kennedy,  of  the  Navy,  who  con- 
L^nded  that  it  was  impossible,  and  that  no  ship 
ever  sailed  so  fast,  and  that  there  must  have  been 
some  error  in  the  division  of  the  log-line,  or  some 
mistake  in  heaving  the  log.  A  wager  ensu'd  be- 
tvveen  the  two  captains,  to  be  decided  when  there 
should  be  sufficient  wind.  Kennedy  thereupon  ex- 
amin'd  rigorously  the  log-line,  and,  being  satisfi'd 
with  that,  he  determin'd  to  throw  the  log  himself. 
Accordingly  some  days  after,  when  the  wind  blew 
very  fair  and  fresh,  and  the  captain  of  the  paquet, 
Lutwidge,  said  he  believ'd  she  then  went  at  the  rate 
of  thirteen  knots,  Kennedy  made  the  experiment, 
and  own'd  his  wager  lost. 

The  above  fact  I  give  for  the  sake  of  the  follow 
ing  observation.  It  has  been  remark'd,  as  an  im 
perfection  in  the  art  of  ship-building,  that  it  can 
never  be  known,  till  she  is  tried,  whether  a  new 
ship  will  or  will  not  be  a  good  sailer ;  for  that  the 
model  of  a  good-sailing  ship  has  been  exactly 
follow'd  in  a  new  one,  which  has  prov'd,  on  the 
contrary,  remarkably  dull.  I  apprehend  that  this 
may  partly  be  occasion'd  by  the  different  opinions 
of  seamen  respecting  the  modes  of  lading,  rigging, 


348  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

and  sailing  of  a  ship  ;  each  has  his  system  ;  and  the 
same  vessel,  laden  by  the  judgment  and  orders  of 
one  captain,  shall  sail  better  or  worse  than  when  by 
the  orders  of  another.  Besides,  it  scarce  ever  hap 
pens  that  a  ship  is  form'd,  fitted  for  the  sea,  and 
sail'd  by  the  same  person.  One  man  builds  the 
hull,  another  rigs  her,  a  third  lades  and  sails  her. 
No  one  of  these  has  the  advantage  of  knowing  all 
the  ideas  and  experience  of  the  others,  and,  there 
fore,  can  not  draw  just  conclusions  from  a  combina 
tion  of  the  whole. 

Even  in  the  simple  operation  of  sailing  when  at 
sea,  I  have  often  observ'd  different  judgments  in  the 
officers  who  commanded  the  successive  watches,  the 
wind  being  the  same.  One  would  have  the  sails 
trimm'd  sharper  or  flatter  than  another,  so  that  they 
seem'd  to  have  no  certain  rule  to  govern  by.  Yet 
I  think  a  set  of  experiments  might  be  instituted, 
first,  to  determine  the  most  proper  form  of  the  hull 
for  swift  sailing ;  next,  the  best  dimensions  and  pro- 
perest  place  for  the  masts ;  then  the  form  and  quan 
tity  of  sails,  and  their  position,  as  the  wind  may  be  ; 
and,  lastly,  the  disposition  of  the  lading.  This  is  an 
age  of  experiments,  and  I  think  a  set  accurately 
made  and  combin'd  would  be  of  great  use.  I  am 
persuaded,  therefore,  that  ere  long  some  ingenious 
philosopher  will  undertake  it,  to  whom  I  wish 
success. 

We  were  several  times  chas'd  in  our  passage,  but 
outsail'd  every  thing,  and  in  thirty  days  had  sound- 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  349 

ings.  We  had  a  good  observation,  and  the  captain 
judg'd  himself  so  near  our  port,  Falmouth,  that,  if 
we  made  a  good  run  in  the  night,  we  might  be  off 
the  mouth  of  that  harbor  in  the  morning,  and  by 
running  in  the  night  might  escape  the  notice  of  the 
enemy's  privateers,  who  often  cruis'd  near  the  en 
trance  of  the  channel.  Accordingly,  all  the  sail 
was  set  that  we  could  possibly  make,  and  the  wind 
being  very  fresh  and  fair,  we  went  right  before  it, 
and  made  great  way.  The  captain,  after  his  ob 
servation,  shap'd  his  course,  as  he  thought,  so  as  to 
pass  wide  of  the  Scilly  Isles ;  but  it  seems  there  is 
sometimes  a  strong  indraught  setting  up  St.  George's 
Channel,  which  deceives  seamen  and  caused  the  loss 
of  Sir  Cloudesley  Shovel's  squadron.  This  in 
draught  was  probably  the  cause  of  what  happened 
to  us. 

We  had  a  watchman  plac'd  in  the  bow,  to  whom 
they  often  called,  "Look  well  out  before  there" 
and  he  as  often  answered,  "Ay,  ay;"  but  perhaps 
had  his  eyes  shut,  and  was  half  asleep  at  the  time, 
they  sometimes  answering,  as  is  said,  mechanically ; 
for  he  did  not  see  a  light  just  before  us,  which  had 
been  hid  by  the  studding-sails  from  the  man  at  the 
helm,  and  from  the  rest  of  the  watch,  but  by  an 
accidental  yaw  of  the  ship  was  discover'd,  and 
occasion'd  a  great  alarm,  we  being  very  near  it, 
the  light  appearing  to  me  as  big  as  a  cart-wheel. 
It  was  midnight,  and  our  captain  fast  asleep ;  but 
Captain  Kennedy,  jumping  upon  deck,  and  seeing 

30 


350  AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 

the  danger,  ordered  the  ship  to  wear  round,  all  sails 
standing  ;  an  operation  dangerous  to  the  masts,  but 
it  carried  us  clear,  and  we  escaped  shipwreck,  for  we 
were  running  right  upon  the  rocks  on  which  the  light 
house  was  erected.  This  deliverance  impressed  me 
strongly  with  the  utility  of  light-houses,  and  made 
me  resolve  to  encourage  the  building  more  of  them 
in  America,  if  I  should  live  to  return  there. 

In  the  morning  it  was  found  by  the  soundings,  etc., 
that  we  were  near  our  port,  but  a  thick  fog  hid  the 
land  from  our  sight.  About  nine  o'clock  the  fog 
began  to  rise,  and  seem'd  to  be  lifted  up  from  the 
water  like  the  curtain  at  a  play-house,  discovering 
underneath,  the  town  of  Falmouth,  the  vessels  in  its 
harbor,  and  the  fields  that  surrounded  it.  This  was 
a  most  pleasing  spectacle  to  those  who  had  been  so 
long  without  any  other  prospects  than  the  uniform 
view  of  a  vacant  ocean,  and  it  gave  us  the  more 
pleasure  as  we  were  now  free  from  the  anxieties 
which  the  state  of  war  occasion'd. 

I  set  out  immediately,  with  my  son,  for  London, 
and  we  only  stopt  a  little  by  the  way  to  view 
Stonehenge  on  Salisbury  Plain,  and  Lord  Pem 
broke's  house  and  gardens,  with  his  very  curious 
antiquities  at  Wilton.  We  arrived  in  London  the 
27th  of  July,  I757-* 


*  Here  terminates  the  Autobiography,  as  published  by  Wm.  Temple 
Franklin  and  his  successors.  What  follows  was  written  the  last  year  of 
Dr.  Franklin's  life,  and  was  never  before  printed  in  English. — B. 


AS  soon  as  I  was  settled  in  a  lodging  Mr. 
Charles  had  provided  for  me,  I  went  to  visit 
Dr.  Fothergill,  to  whom  I  was  strongly  recommended, 
and  whose  counsel  respecting  my  proceedings  I  was 
advis'd  to  obtain.  He  was,  against  an  immediate 
complaint  to  government,  and  thought  the  proprie 
taries  should  first  be  personally  appli'd  to,  who 
might  possibly  be  induc'd  by  the  interposition  and 
persuasion  of  some  private  friends,  to  accommodate 
matters  amicably.  I  then  waited  on  my  old  friend 
and  correspondent,  Mr.  Peter  Collinson,  who  told 
me  that  John  Hanbury,  the  great  Virginia  merchant, 
had  requested  to  be  informed  when  I  should  arrive, 
that  he  might  carry  me  to  Lord  Granville's,  who  was 
then  President  of  the  Council  and  wished  to  see  me 
as  soon  as  possible.  I  agreed  to  go  with  him  the 
next  morning.  Accordingly  Mr.  Hanbury  called 

351 


352  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

for  me  and  took  me  in  his  carriage  to  that  noble 
man's,  who  receiv'd  me  with  great  civility ;  and 
after  some  questions  respecting  the  present  state  of 
affairs  in  America  and  discourse  thereupon,  he  said 
to  me  :  "You  Americans  have  wrong  ideas  of  the 
nature  of  your  constitution  ;  you  contend  that  the 
king's  instructions  to  his  governors  are  not  laws, 
and  think  yourselves  at  liberty  to  regard  or  dis 
regard  them  at  your  own  discretion.  But  those 
instructions  are  not  like  the  pocket  instructions  given 
to  a  minister  going  abroad,  for  regulating  his  con 
duct  in  some  trifling  point  of  ceremony.  They  are 
first  drawn  up  by  judges  learned  in  the  laws  ;  they 
are  then  considered,  debated,  and  perhaps  amended 
in  Council,  after  which  they  are  signed  by  the  king. 
They  are  then,  so  far  as  they  relate  to  you,  the  law 
of  the  land,  for  the  king  is  the  LEGISLATOR  OF  THE 
COLONIES."  I  told  hi*  lordship  this  was  new  doc 
trine  to  me.  I  had  always  understood  from  our 
charters  that  our  laws  were  to  be  made  by  our  As 
semblies,  to  be  presented  indeed  to  the  king  for  his 
royal  assent,  but  that  being  once  given  the  king 
could  not  repeal  or  alter  them.  And  as  the  Assem 
blies  could  not  make  permanent  laws  without  his 
assent,  so  neither  could  he  make  a  law  for  them 
without  theirs.  He  assur'd  me  I  was  totally  mis 
taken.  I  did  not  think  so,  however,  and  his  lord 
ship's  conversation  having  a  little  alarm'd  me  as  to 
what  might  be  the  sentiments  of  the  court  concern 
ing  us,  I  wrote  it  down  as  soon  as  I  returned  to  my 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  353 

lodgings.*     I  recollected  that  about  20  years  before, 
a  clause  in  a  bill  brought  into  Parliament  by  the 


*  An  account  of  this  conversation  with  Granville  is  given  in  the  fol 
lowing  letter  from  Franklin  to  Mr.  James  Bowdoin: 

"LONDON,  13  January,  1772. 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  I  should  very  readily  have  recommended  your  son  to  the 
care  of  my  friend,  Dr.  Priestly,  if  he  had  continued  to  superintend  the 
academy  at  Warrington ;  but  he  has  left  that  charge  some  time  since, 
and  is  now  pastor  of  a  congregation  at  Leeds  in  Yorkshire.  I  am  much 
obliged  to  you  for  introducing  me  to  the  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Erving, 
who  appears  a  very  intelligent,  sensible  man.  The  governing  of  colo 
nies  by  instruction  has  long  been  a  favorite  point  with  ministers  here. 
About  thirty  years  since,  in  a  bill  brought  into  Parliament  relating  to 
America,  they  inserted  a  clause  to  make  the  king's  instructions  laws  in 
the  colonies,  which,  being  opposed  by  the  then  agents,  was  thrown  out. 

"  And  I  well  remember  a  conversation  with  Lord  Granville,  soon 
after  my  arrival  here,  in  which  he  expressed  himself  on  that  subject  in 
the  following  terms.  '  Your  American  Assemblies  slight  the  king's 
instructions,  pretending  that  they  are  not  laws.  The  instructions  sent 
over  to  your  governors  are  not  like  the  pocket  instructions  given  to 
ambassadors,  to  be  observed  at  their  discretion,  as  circumstances  may 
require.  They  are  drawn  up  by  grave  men,  learned  in  the  laws  and 
constitutions  of  the  realm  ;  they  are  brought  into  Council,  thoroughly 
weighed,  well  considered,  and  amended  if  necessary,  by  the  wisdom  of 
that  body,  and,  when  received  by  the  governors,  they  are  the  laws  of 
the  land  ;  for  the  king  is  the  legislator  of  the  colonies.'  I  remember 
this  the  better,  because,  being  a  new  doctrine  to  me,  I  put  it  down  as 
soon  as  I  returned  to  my  lodgings.  To  be  sure,  if  a  governor  thinks 
himself  obliged  to  obey  all  instructions,  whether  consistent  or  inconsis 
tent  with  the  constitution,  laws,  and  rights  of  the  country  he  governs, 
and  can  proceed  to  govern  in  that  train,  there  is  an  end  of  the  constitu 
tion,  and  those  rights  are  abolished.  But  I  wonder  that  any  honest 
gentleman  can  think  there  is  honor  in  being  a  governor  on  such  terms. 
And  I  think  the  practice  cannot  possibly  continue,  especially  if  opposed 
with  spirit  by  our  Assemblies.  At  present  no  attention  is  paid  by  the 
American  ministers  to  any  agent  here  whose  appointment  is  not  ratified 
by  the  governor's  assent ;  and,  if  this  is  persisted  in,  you  can  have  none 
to  serve  you  in  a  public  character,  that  do  not  render  themselves  agree- 
30  * 


354  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

ministry  had  propos'd  to  make  the  king's  instruc 
tions  laws  in  the  colonies,  but  the  clause  was  thrown 
out  by  the  Commons,  for  which  we  adored  them  as 
our  friends  and  friends  of  liberty,  till  by  their  con 
duct  towards  us  in  1765  it  seem'd  that  they  had 
refus'd  that  point  of  sovereignty  to  the  king  only 
that  they  might  reserve  it  for  themselves. 

After  some  days,  Dr.  Fothergill  having  spoken  to 
the  proprietaries,  they  agreed  to  a  meeting  with  me 
at  Mr.  T.  Penn's  house  in  Spring  Garden.  The 
conversation  at  first  consisted  of  mutual  declarations 
of  disposition  to  reasonable  accommodations,  but  I 
suppose  each  party  had  its  own  ideas  of  what  should 
be  meant  by  reasonable.  We  then  went  into  con 
sideration  of  our  several  points  of  complaint,  which 
I  enumerated.  The  proprietaries  justify'd  their  con 
duct  as  well  as  they  could,  and  I  the  Assembly's. 
We  now  appeared  very  wide,  and  so  far  from  each 
other  in  our  opinions  as  to  discourage  all  hope  of 
agreement.  However,  it  was  concluded  that  I 
should  give  them  the  heads  of  our  complaints  in 
writing,  and  they  promis'd  then  to  consider  them. 


able  to  these  ministers,  and  those  otherwise  appointed  can  only  promote 
your  interests  by  conversation  as  private  gentlemen  or  by  writing.  Vir 
ginia  had,  as  you  observe,  two  agents,  one  for  the  Council,  the  other  for 
the  Assembly ;  but  I  think  the  latter  only  was  considered  as  agent  for 
the  Province. 

"  He  was  appointed  by  an  act,  which  expired  in  the  time  of  Lord 
Botetourt,  and  was  not  revived.  The  other,  I  apprehend,  continues  ; 
but  I  am  not  well  acquainted  with  the  nature  of  his  appointment.  I 
only  understand  that  he  does  not  concern  himself  much  with  the  general 
affairs  of  the  colony." — Sparks'  Works  of  Franklin,  vol.  vii.  p.  549. — B. 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  355 

I  did  so  soon  after,  but  they  put  the  paper  into  the 
hands  of  their  solicitor,  Ferdinand  John  Paris,  who 
managed  for  them  all  their  law  business  in  their 
great  suit  with  the  neighbouring  proprietary  of 
Maryland,  Lord  Baltimore,  which  had  subsisted  70 
years,  and  wrote  for  them  all  their  papers  and  mes 
sages  in  their  dispute  with  the  Assembly.  He  was 
a  proud,  angry  man,  and  as  I  had  occasionally  in 
the  answers  of  the  Assembly  treated  his  papers  with 
some  severity,  they  being  really  weak  in  point  of 
argument  and  haughty  in  expression,  he  had  con 
ceived  a  mortal  enmity  to  me,  which  discovering 
itself  whenever  we  met,  I  declin'd  the  proprietary's 
proposal  that  he  and  I  should  discuss  the  heads  of 
complaint  between  our  two  selves,  and  refus'd  treat 
ing  with  any  one  but  them.  They  then  by  his  ad 
vice  put  the  paper  into  the  hands  of  the  Attorney 
and  Solicitor-General  for  their  opinion  and  counsel 
upon  it,  where  it  lay  unanswered  a  year  wanting 
eight  days,  during  which  time  I  made  frequent 
demands  of  an  answer  from  the  proprietaries,  but 
without  obtaining  any  other  than  that  they  had  not 
yet  received  the  opinion  of  the  Attorney  and  Soli 
citor-General.  What  it  was  when  they  did  receive 
it  I  never  learnt,  for  they  did  not  communicate  it  to 
me,  but  sent  a  long  message  to  the  Assembly  drawn 
and  signed  by  Paris,  reciting  my  paper,  complaining 
of  its  want  of  formality,  as  a  rudeness  on  my  part, 
and  giving  a  flimsy  justification  of  their  conduct, 
adding  that  they  should  be  willing  to  accommodate 


356  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

matters  if  the  Assembly  would  send  out  some  person 
of  candour  to  treat  with  them  for  that  purpose,  inti 
mating  thereby  that  I  was  not  such. 

The  want  of  formality  or  rudeness  was,  probably, 
my  not  having  address'd  the  paper  to  them  with 
their  assum'd  titles  of  True  and  Absolute  Proprie 
taries  of  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania,  which  I 
omitted  as  not  thinking  it  necessary  in  a  paper,  the 
intention  of  which  was  only  to  reduce  to  a  certainty 
by  writing,  what  in  conversation  I  had  delivered 
viva  vocc. 

But  during  this  delay,  the  Assembly  having  pre 
vailed  with  Gov'r  Denny  to  pass  an  act  taxing  the 
proprietary  estate  in  common  with  the  estates  of 
the  people,  which  was  the  grand  point  in  dispute, 
they  omitted  answering  the  message. 

When  this  act  however  came  over,  the  proprieta 
ries,  counselled  by  Paris,  determined  to  oppose  its 
receiving  the  royal  assent.  Accordingly  they  pe- 
tition'd  the  king  in  Council,  and  a  hearing  was 
appointed  in  which  two  lawyers  were  employ'd  by 
them  against  the  act,  and  two  by  me  in  support  of 
it.  They  alledg'd  that  the  act  was  intended  to  load 
the  proprietary  estate  in  order  to  spare  those  of  the 
people,  and  that  if  it  were  suffer'd  to  continue  in 
force,  and  the  proprietaries  who  were  in  odium  with 
the  people,  left  to  their  mercy  in  proportioning  the 
taxes,  they  would  inevitably  be  ruined.  We  reply'd 
that  the  act  had  no  such  intention,  and  would  have 
no  such  effect.  That  the  assessors  were  honest  and 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  357 

discreet  men  under  an  oath  to  assess  fairly  and 
equitably,  and  that  any  advantage  each  of  them 
might  expect  in  lessening  his  own  tax  by  augment 
ing  that  of  the  proprietaries  was  too  trifling  to  induce 
them  to  perjure  themselves.  This  is  the  purport  of 
what  I  remember  as  urged  by  both  sides,  except 
that  we  insisted  strongly  on  the  mischievous  conse 
quences  that  must  attend  a  repeal,  for  that  the 
money,  £100,000,  being  printed  and  given  to  the 
king's  use,  expended  in  his  service,  and  now  spread 
among  the  people,  the  repeal  would  strike  it  dead 
in  their  hands  to  the  ruin  of  many,  and  the  total 
discouragement  of  future  grants,  and  the  selfishness 
of  the  proprietors  in  soliciting  such  a  general  catas 
trophe,  merely  from  a  groundless  fear  of  their  estate 
being  taxed  too  highly,  was  insisted  on  in  the 
strongest  terms.  On  this,  Lord  Mansfield,  one  of 
the  counsel  rose,  and  beckoning  me  took  me  into 
the  clerk's  chamber,  while  the  lawyers  were  plead 
ing,  and  asked  me  if  I  was  really  of  opinion  that  no 
injury  would  be  done  the  proprietary  estate  in  the 
execution  of  the  act.  I  said  certainly.  "Then," 
says  he,  "  you  can  have  little  objection  to  enter  into 
an  engagement  to  assure  that  point."  I  answer'd, 
"  None  at  all."  He  then  call'd  in  Paris,  and  after 
some  discourse,  his  lordship's  proposition  was  ac 
cepted  on  both  sides ;  a  paper  to  the  purpose  was 
drawn  up  by  the  Clerk  of  the  Council,  which  I 
sign'd  with  Mr.  Charles,  who  was  also  an  Agent 
of  the  Province  for  their  ordinary  affairs,  when  Lord 


358  AUTOBIOGRAPHY  OF 

Mansfield  returned  to  the  Council  Chamber,  where 
finally  the  law  was  allowed  to  pass.  Some  changes 
were  however  recommended  and  we  also  engaged 
they  should  be  made  by  a  subsequent  law,  but  the 
Assembly  did  not  think  them  necessary ;  for  one 
year's  tax  having  been  levied  by  the  act  before  the 
order  of  Council  arrived,  they  appointed  a  committee 
to  examine  the  proceedings  of  the  assessors,  and  on 
this  committee  they  put  several  particular  friends  of 
the  proprietaries.  After  a  full  enquiry,  they  unani 
mously  sign'd  a  report  that  they  found  the  tax  had 
been  assess'd  with  perfect  equity. 

The  Assembly  looked  into  my  entering  into  the 
first  part  of  the  engagement,  as  an  essential  service 
to  the  Province,  since  it  secured  the  credit  of  the 
paper  money  then  spread  over  all  the  country.  They 
gave  me  their  thanks  in  form  when  I  return'd. 
But  the  proprietaries  were  enraged  at  Governor 
Denny  for  having  pass'd  the  act,  and  turn'd  him 
out  with  threats  of  suing;  him  for  breach  of  instruc- 

O 

tions  which  he  had  given  bond  to  observe.  He, 
however,  having  done  it  at  the  instance  of  the 
General,  and  for  His  Majesty's  service,  and  having 
some  powerful  interest  at  court,  despis'd  the  threats 
and  they  were  never  put  in  execution.* 


*  The  following  allusion  to  Gov'r  Denny's  removal  occurs  in  a  letter 
which  Franklin  wrote  to  his  wife  while  the  negotiations  here  described 
were  progressing. — B. 

"  I  see  the  governor's  treatment  of  his  wife  makes  all  the  ladies  angry. 
If  it  is  on  account  of  the  bad  example,  that  will  soon  be  removed  ;  for 


BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  359 

the  Proprietors  are  privately  looking  out  for  another ;  being  determined 
to  discard  him,  and  the  place  goes  a-begging.  One,  to  whom  it  was 
offered,  sent  a  friend  to  make  some  inquiries  of  me.  The  Proprietors 
told  him  they  had  there  a  city-house  and  a  country-house,  which  he 
might  use  rent  free  ;  that  everything  was  so  cheap  he  might  live  on 
five  hundred  pounds  sterling  a  year,  keep  a  genteel  table,  a  coach,  etc., 
and  his  income  would  be  at  least  nine  hundred  pounds.  If  it  fell  short 
of  that,  the  Proprietors  would  engage  to  make  it  up.  For  the  truth  of 
his  being  able  to  live  genteelly,  and  keep  a  coach  for  five  hundred 
pounds  a  year,  the  Proprietors  referred  him  to  Mr.  Hamilton,  who,  it 
seems,  told  him  the  same  story ;  but,  on  inquiry  of  Mr.  Morris,  he  had 
quite  a  different  account,  and  knew  not  which  to  believe.  The  gentle 
man  is  one  Mr.  Graves,  a  lawyer  of  the  Temple.  He  hesitated  a  good 
while,  and  I  am  now  told  has  declined  accepting  it.  I  wish  that  may 
not  be  true,  for  he  has  the  character  of  being  a  very  good  sort  of  man  : 
though  while  the  instructions  continue,  it  matters  little  who  is  our 
governor.  It  was  to  have  been  kept  a  secret  from  me,  that  the  Pro 
prietors  were  looking  out  for  a  new  one  ;  because  they  would  not  have 
Mr.  Denny  know  any  thing  about  it,  till  the  appointment  was  actually 
made,  and  the  gentleman  ready  to  embark.  So  you  may  make  a  secret 
of  it  too,  if  you  please,  and  oblige  all  your  friends  with  it." — Sparks'  Edi 
tion  of  Franklin's  Works,  vol.  vii.  p.  170. 


APPENDIX. 


APPENDIX. 


PAGE 

No.  i.  Preface  to  Castera's  Edition  of  Franklin's  Works  ....  365 
No.  2.  Letter  of  Franklin  to  Le  Veillard,  April  15,  1787.  From 

the  Le  Veillard  Collection 367 

No.  3.  Letter  from  Franklin  to  Le  Veillard,  October  24,  1788. 

From  the  Le  Veillard  Collection 371 

No.  4.  Letter  from  Wm.  Temple  Franklin  to  M.  le  Veillard,  Nov. 

17,1788.  From  the  Le  Veillard  Collection 373 

No.  5.  Letter  from  Benjamin  Franklin  to  M.  le  Veillard,  Sept.  5, 

1789.  From  the  Le  Veillard  Collection 376 

No.  6.  Letter  from  Wm.  Temple  Franklin  to  M.  le  Veillard,  dated 

22  May,  1790.  Le  Veillard  Collection 378 

No.  7.  Preface  to  Wm.  T.  Franklin's  Edition  of  Franklin's 

Works 379 

No.  8.  Charles  St.  Male's  Preface  to  "  Correspondance  Inedite  de 

Franklin,  etc." 384 

No.  9.  Letter  from  Benjamin  Franklin  to  B.  Vaughan,  Nov.  2, 

1789 386 

31  *  363 


APPENDIX  No.  i. 

Vie  de  Franklin,  e'crite  par  lui-meme,  suivie  de  ses  (Euvres 
morales,  politiques  et  litteraires,  dont  la  plus  grand  partie  n'avait 
pas  encore  e"te  publide.  Traduit  de  1'Anglais,  avec  des  notes, 
par  J.  Castera.  Eripuit  coelo  fulmen,  sceptrumque  tyrannis. 
Paris,  chez  F.  Buisson.  Imp.  Lib.,  rue  Hautefeuille,  No.  20.  An 
VI.  de  la  Republique  (1799). 

Preface  of  the  Translator. 

"  DURING  the  last  years  that  Benjamin  Franklin  passed  in 
France,  much  was  said  in  the  circles  he  frequented  of  the 
Confessions  of  Jean  Jacques  Rousseau,  the  first  part  of  which  had 
just  appeared.  This  work,  of  which  one  may  say  as  much  good 
as  ill,  and  which  is  sometimes  so  attractive  by  the  charms  and 
sublimity  of  its  style,  sometimes  so  repulsive  by  the  impropriety 
of  its  revelations  of  facts,  induced  some  of  the  friends  of  Frank 
lin  to  counsel  him  also  to  write  the  memoirs  of  his  life.  He 
consented  to  do  so. 

31  *  365 


366  APPENDIX. 

"  These  friends  thought  with  reason  that  it  would  be  curious  to 
compare  the  history  of  a  writer  who  seems  to  have  used  his 
brilliant  imagination  merely  to  render  himself  unhappy,  with  that 
of  a  philosopher  who  incessantly  employed  all  the  resources  of 
his  mind  to  assure  his  own  happiness  by  contributing  to  the 
happiness  of  all  mankind.  In  effect,  how  interesting  it  is  to  con 
sider  the  different  ways  followed  by  these  two  men,  both  born  in 
the  simple  rank  of  artisans,  both  left  to  themselves  from  infancy 
and  almost  without  teachers  !  Each  educated  himself  and  at 
tained  great  celebrity.  But  one  indolently  passed  many  years  in 
obscure  servitude,  where  a  sensual  woman  retained  him,  while  the 
other,  relying  entirely  upon  himself,  labored  constantly  with  his 
hands,  lived  with  the  strictest  temperance,  the  severest  economy, 
and  at  the  same  time  supplied  generally  the  needs,  even  the 
fancies  of  his  friends. 

"  Let  not  this  comparison,  so  entirely  to  the  advantage  of 
Franklin,  lead  any  one  to  suppose  that  I  seek  to  depreciate  Jean 
Jacques.  No  one  more  than  I  loves  or  admires  the  rare  talent 
of  this  eloquent  writer,  but  I  have  supposed  his  course,  placed 
in  contrast  with  Franklin's,  might  furnish  a  useful  and  grand 
lesson  for  the  young. 

«  A  part  of  the  life  of  Franklin  had  already  been  translated  into 
French,  and  in  a  sufficiently  careful  manner.  Notwithstanding, 
I  have  dared  to  translate  it  anew. 

"  The  English  editor  has  added  to  what  he  had  been  able  to 
procure  of  the  MS.  of  Franklin,  the  continuation  of  his  Life 
composed  in  Philadelphia.  I  have  been  fortunate  enough  to 
add  to  what  this  publisher  has  furnished  me  various  pieces  which 
he  has  not  known,  and  a  second  fragment  of  the  original  Memoirs, 
but  I  have  yet  to  regret  not  having  had  all  these  Memoirs,  which 
go,  it  is  said,  to  1757.  It  is  not  known  why  Mr.  Benjamin 
Franklin  Bache,*  who  has  them  in  his  possession,  and  is  now  re- 


*  It  was  Wm.  T.  Franklin  who  is  here  referred  to. 


APPENDIX.  367 

siding  in  London,  keeps  them  so  long  from  the  public.  The  works 
of  a  great  man  belong  less  to  his  heirs  than  to  the  human  race. 

"Perhaps  the  reader  will  not  be  indisposed  to  run  his  eye 
over  a  letter  which  the  celebrated  Dr.  Price  addressed  to  one  of 
his  friends  upon  the  subject  of  Franklin's  Memoirs. 

"HACKNEY,  \gt/i  June,  1790." 


APPENDIX  No.  2. 
Letter  from  Dr.  Franklin  to  M.  le  Veillard. 

[From  the  Le  Veillard  Collection.] 

"PHILADELPHIA,  April,  15,  1787. 

«  DEAR  FRIEXD  :  I  have  received  a  number  of  letters  from 
you,  which  gave  me  great  pleasure,  tho'  I  have  not  regularly  an 
swered.  When  you  shall  consider  the  situation  of  a  man  who 
had  been  many  years  absent  from  home,  the  multiplicity  of  pri 
vate  affairs  he  must  consequently  have  to  settle,  the  public  busi 
ness  of  a  great  government  to  be  attended  to,  and  this  under  the 
frequent  teasing  of  a  painful  disease,  you  will  probably  make 
some  charitable  allowance  for  his  delay  in  writing  to  his  friends, 
and  not  charge  it  all  as  the  effect  of  forgetfulness  and  want  of 
affection. 

"  I  now  have  all  your  letters  of  the  last  year  before  me,  and  shall 
go  thro'  them  in  order.  That  of  March  25,  announced  a  M.  de  la 
Villele,  nephew  of  the  late  Madame  de  la  Fre'te,  as  intending  a 
voyage  thither,  but  he  has  not  yet  appeared  in  these  parts.  If 
he  arrives  while  I  live,  he  will  be  paid  every  attention  and 
civility  in  my  power  to  show  him. 

"  I  thank  you  for  the  trouble  you  have  taken  in  selling  my 
forte  piano  and  dividing  the  money  as  I  desired. 

"The  Lodge  of  the  Nine  Sisters  have  done  me  too  much 
honor  in  proposing  the  prize  you  mention. 

"  As   to  the  little  history   I   promis'd  you,  my  purpose  still 


APPENDIX. 

continues  of  completing  it,  and  I  hoped  to  do  it  this  summer, 
having  built  an  addition  to  my  house,  in  which  I  have  plac'd  my 
library,  and  where  I  can  write  without  being  disturb'd  by  the 
noise  of  the  children,  but  the  General  Assembly  having  lately 
desired  my  assistance  in  a  great  convention  to  be  held  here  in 
May  next  for  amending  the  Federal  Constitution,  I  begin  to  doubt 
whether  I  can  make  any  progress  in  it  till  that  business  is 
over. 

"  Yours  of  the  23d  of  May  did  not  arrive  here  till  the  5th  of 
October,  and  this  is  not  the  only  instance  of  the  long  time  letters 
are  delayed  in  your  seaports.  It  is  true  that  we  had,  as  you  men 
tion,  two  parties  in  this  State — one  for  preserving  the  Constitu 
tion  as  it  is,  and  the  other  for  adding  an  Upper  House  as  a 
check  to  the  Assembly.  But  having  try'd  it  seven  years,  the 
strongest  party  was  for  continuing  it,  and  since  my  arrival  no 
obstruction  has  happened  in  public  business,  such  as  you  had 
been  informed  of,  by  the  seceding  of  one  party  from  the  Assem 
bly.  Having  served  one  year  as  President  of  Council,  I  had 
not  resolution  enough  to  refuse  serving  another,  and  was  again 
chosen  in  November  last,  without  a  single  dissenting  voice  but 
my  own.  By  our  laws  one  cannot  serve  more  than  three  years, 
but  I  think  I  shall  decline  the  third. 

«  I  am  quite  of  your  opinion  that  our  independence  is  not 
quite  compleat  till  we  have  discharg'd  our  public  debt.  This 
State  is  not  behindhand  in  its  proportion,  and  those  who  are  in 
arrear  are  actually  employed  in  contriving  means  to  discharge 
their  respective  balances,  but  they  are  not  all  equally  diligent  in 
the  business,  nor  equally  successful ;  the  whole  will,  however,  be 
paid,  I  am  persuaded,  in  a  few  years. 

"  The  English  have  not  yet  delivered  up  the  ports  on  our 
frontiers,  agreeable  to  treaty  ;  the  pretence  is  that  our  merchants 
have  not  paid  their  debts.  I  was  a  little  provok'd  when  I  first 
heard  this,  and  I  wrote  some  remarks  upon  it  which  I  send  you. 
They  have  been  written  near  a  year,  but  I  have  not  yet  pub- 


APPENDIX.  369 

lished  them,  being  unwilling  to  encourage  any  of  our  people  who 
may  be  able  to  pay  in  their  neglect  of  that  duty.  This  paper, 
therefore,  is  only  for  your  amusement  and  that  of  our  excellent 
friend,  the  Duke  de  Rochefoucault.* 

"  You  blame  me  for  writing  three  pamphlets  and  neglecting 
to  write  the  little  history ;  you  should  consider  they  were  written 
at  sea,  out  of  my  own  head  ;  the  other  could  not  so  well  be  writ 
ten  there,  for  want  of  the  documents  that  could  only  be  had 
here. 

"  As  to  my  malady,  concerning  which  you  so  kindly  inquire, 
I  have  never  had  the  least  doubt  of  its  being  the  stone.  I  am 
sensible  that  it  is  grown  heavier  ;  but  on  the  whole  it  does  not 
give  me  more  pain  than  when  at  Passy,  and  except  in  standing, 
walking  or  making  water,  I  am  very  little  incommoded  by  it. 
Sitting  or  lying  in  bed  I  am  generally  quite  easy,  God  be  thanked ; 
and  as  I  live  temperately,  drink  no  wine,  and  use  daily  the  exer 
cise  of  the  dumb-bell,  I  flatter  myself  that  the  stone  is  kept  from 
augmenting  so  much  as  it  might  otherwise  do,  and  that  I  may 
still  continue  to  find  it  tolerable.  People  who  live  long,  who 
will  drink  of  the  cup  of  life  to  the  very  bottom,  must  expect  to 
meet  with  some  of  the  usual  dregs,  and  when  I  reflect  on  the 
number  of  terrible  maladies  human  nature  is  subject  to,  I  think 
myself  favored  in  having  to  my  share  only  the  stone  and  the 
gout. 

"In  yours  of  August  2ist,  you  mention  your  having  written 
the  2  ist  and  2Qth  of  June,  which  letters  were  in  a  paquet,  with 
one  from  the  Duke  de  Rochefoucault,  two  from  M.  and  Mad. 
Brillon,  etc.  I  have  not  been  so  happy  as  to  receive  these  let 
ters  ;  they  never  came  to  hand. 

"  You  were  right  in  conjecturing  that  I  wrote  the  remarks  on 
the  Thoiights  concerning  Executive  Justice.  I  have  no  copy 
of  those  remarks  at  hand,  and  forget  how  the  saying  was  intro- 


*  The  following  was  written  in  the  margin:  "This  omitted  at  present  for  want  of 
time  to  copy  it." 

Q* 


370  APPENDIX. 

duced  that  it  was  better  1000  guilty  persons  should  escape  than 
one  innocent  suffer.  Your  criticisms  thereon  appear  to  be  just, 
and  I  imagine  you  may  have  misapprehended  my  intention  in 
mentioning  it.  I  always  thought,  with  you,  that  the  prejudice 
in  Europe  which  supposes  a  family  dishonored  by  the  punish 
ment  of  one  of  its  members,  was  very  absurd,  it  being,  on  the 
contrary,  my  opinion  that  a  rogue  hanged  out  of  a  family  does  it 
more  honor  than  ten  that  live  in  it. 

"  What  you  mention  of  our  paper  money,  if  you  mean  that  of 
this  State,  Pensilvania,  is  not  well  understood.  It  was  made 
before  my  arrival,  and  not  being  a  legal  tender  can  do  no  injus 
tice  to  anybody,  nor  does  any  one  here  complain  of  it,  tho'  many 
are  justly  averse  to  an  increase  of  the  quantity  at  this  time,  there 
being  a  great  deal  of  real  money  in  the  country,  and  one  bank 
in  good  credit.  I  have  myself  purchased  ten  actions  in  it, 
which,  at  least,  shows  my  good  opinion  of  it. 

"  Besides  the  addition  to  my  house,  mentioned  above,  I  have 
been  building  two  new  houses  on  my  front,  next  the  street.  They 
are  of  brick,  and  each  24  feet  wide  by  45  deep,  and  three  stories 
high.  The  affairs  in  dealing  with  so  many  workmen  and  fur 
nishers  of  materials,  such  as  bricklayers,  carpenters,  stone-cutters, 
painters,  glaziers,  lime-burners,  timber-merchants,  copper-smiths, 
carters,  laborers,  etc.,  etc.,  have  added  not  a  little  to  the  fatigu 
ing  business  I  have  gone  through  in  the  last  year,  as  mentioned 
above,  and  strengthen  in  some  degree  my  apology  for  being  so 
bad  a  correspondent. 

"  Mr.  Brabanzon  has  requested  me  to  send  him  some  seeds  in 
time  to  plant  this  spring,  but  his  letter  came  to  hand  too  late. 
They  will  be  got  the  ensuing  autumn  and  sent,  so  as  to  be  ready 
for  planting  next  year. 

"  Temple  and  Benjamin  will  write  to  you.  This  letter  goes 
by  Mr.  Paine,  one  of  our  principal  writers  at  the  Revolution, 
being  the  author  of  Common  Sense,  a  pamphlet  that  had  pro 
digious  effects. 


APPENDIX.  371 

"  He  does  not  speak  French,  or  I  should  recommend  him  to 
your  civilities,  as  I  do  to  those  of  our  friend  the  good  Duke. 

"  The  last  letter  I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  receiving  from  you 
is  that  of  Nov.  19,  1786.  I  cannot  give  you  a  better  idea  of  my 
present  happiness  in  my  family  than  in  telling  you  that  my  daugh 
ter  has  all  the  virtues  of  a  certain  good  lady  that  you  allow  me 
to  love  ;  the  same  tender  affections  and  intentions,  ingenuity,  in 
dustry,  economy,  etc.,  etc.,  etc.  Embrace  that  good  dame  for  me 
very  warmly,  and  the  amiable  daughter.  My  best  wishes  attend 
the  whole  family,  whom  I  shall  never  cease  to  love  while  I  am 

"B.  FRANKLIN." 


APPENDIX  No.  3. 
Benjamin  Franklin  to  M.  le  Veillard. 

[From  the  Le  Veillard  Collection.] 

"PHILADELPHIA,  Oct.  24,   1788. 

"  MY  DEAR  FRIEND  :  I  have  lately  received  your  two  kind 
letters  of  June  18  and  Aug.  6.  I  do  not  find  that  I  ever  re 
ceived  those  you  mention  of  the  I5th  Septr. 

"  I  have  been  much  afflicted  the  last  summer  with  a  long-con 
tinued  fit  of  the  gout,  which  I  am  not  quite  clear  of,  though 
much  better ;  my  other  malady  is  not  augmented.  I  have  lately 
made  great  progress  in  the  work  you  so  urgently  demand,  and 
have  come  as  far  as  my  fiftieth  year.  Being  now  free  from  pub 
lic  business,  as  my  term  in  the  Presidentship  is  expired,  and 
resolving  to  engage  in  no  other  public  employment,  I  expect  to 
have  it  finished  in  about  two  months,  if  illness  or  some  unfore 
seen  interruption  does  not  prevent.  I  do  not  therefore  send  a 
part  at  this  time,  thinking  it  better  to  retain  the  whole  till  I  can 
view  it  all  together  and  make  the  proper  corrections. 

"  I  am  much  concerned  to  hear  the  broils  in  your  country, 
but  hope  they  will  lead  to  its  advantage.  When  this  fermenta- 


372  APPENDIX. 

tion  is  over  and  the  troubling  parts  subsided,  the  wine  will  be 
fine  and  good,  and  chear  the  hearts  of  those  who  drink  of  it. 

"Our  affairs  mend  daily  and  are  getting  into  good  order  very 
fast.  Never  was  any  measure  so  thoroughly  discussed  as  our 
proposed  new  constitution.  Many  objections  were  made  to  it 
in  the  public  papers,  and  answers  to  these  objections.  Much 
party  heat  there  was,  and  some  violent  personal  abuse.  I  kept 
out  of  the  dispute  and  wrote  only  one  little  paper  on  the  occa 
sion,  which  I  enclose.  You  seem  to  me  to  be  too  apprehensive 
about  our  President's  being  perpetual.  Neither  he  nor  we  have 
any  such  intention.  What  danger  there  may  be  of  such  an 
event,  we  are  all  aware  of,  and  shall  take  care  effectually  to  pre 
vent  it.  The  choice  is  from  four  years  to  four  years,  the  ap 
pointments  will  be  small ;  thus  we  may  change  our  President  if 
we  don't  like  his  conduct,  and  he  will  have  less  inducement  to 
struggle  for  a  new  election.  As  to  the  two  Chambers,  I  am  of 
your  opinion,  that  one  alone  would  be  better;  but,  my  dear 
friend,  nothing  in  human  affairs  and  schemes  is  perfect,  and 
perhaps  that  is  the  case  of  our  opinions. 

"It  must  have  been  a  terrible  tempest  that  devastated  such 
an  extent  of  country.  I  have  sometimes  thought  it  might  be 
well  to  establish  an  office  of  insurance  for  farms  against  the 
damage  that  may  occur  to  them  from  storms,  blight,  insects,  &c. 
A  small  sum  paid  by  a  number  would  repair  such  losses  and 
prevent  much  poverty  and  distress. 

«  Our  adventurous  merchants  are  hitherto  successful  in  the  East 
India  trade.  Perhaps  it  would  be  better  for  us  if  we  used  none 
of  the  commodities  of  those  countries,  but  since  we  do  use  them, 
it  is  an  advantage  that  we  have  them  cheaper  than  when  they 
came  through  Britain.  As  to  the  other  merchandise  she  for 
merly  supplied  us  with,  our  demand  is  daily  diminishing.  Our 
people  are  more  and  more  sensible  of  the  mischievous  conse 
quences  of  drinking  rum  ;  the  leaders  of  several  religious  sects 
have  warned  their  people  against  it,  and  the  consumption  has, 


APPENDIX.  373 

this  last  year,  been  less  by  one-third.  This  will  affect  her 
islands.  And  the  restraints  she  has  laid  on  our  trade  have 
contributed  to  raise  a  spirit  of  industry  in  families,  who  now 
manufacture  more  than  ever  for  themselves,  that  must  lessen 
greatly  the  importation. 

"  Embrace  for  me  bien  tendrement  your  good  dame  and  chil 
dren.  With  sincere  esteem  and  hearty  attachment,  I  am  ever, 
my  dear  friend, 

"Yours,  most  affectionately, 

"B.  FRANKLIN. 

"  M.  LE  VEILLARD. 

"P.  S. — The  wine  is  arriv'd,  but  it  was  not  well  secur'd  or 
bottled.  One  of  the  casks  had  leak'd  a  great  deal,  and  the 
case  we  have  opened  had  two-thirds  of  the  bottles  empty  or 
broken.  Temple  is  in  the  country ;  he  has  receiv'd  your  letters, 
but  does  not  know  of  this  opportunity." 


APPENDIX  No.  4. 
Wm.  T.  Franklin  to  M.  le  Veillard. 

[From  the  Le  Veillard  Collection.] 

"  PHILADELPHIE,  17  N<rvre-,  1788. 

"La  derniere  lettre  que  j'ai  regue  de  vous,  mon  cher  ami,  est 
dattee  le  6  Aout.  Vous  ne  m'accusez  pas  la  reception  de  la 
mienne  du  mois  de  Fevrier,*  et  je  crains  qu'elle  ne  soit  restde  a 
N.  York  avec  plusieurs  autres  que  j'ai  Rentes  en  meme  terns. 
Vous  savez  sans  doute  que  les  Pacquetbots  sont  interrompus 
depuis  quelque  terns,  ce  qui  est  cause  j'imagine  que  je  n'ai  pas 
encore  regu  la  glace  pour  ma  machine  electrique  que  vous 
m'anongates  au  mois  de  Fevrier  dernier.  Voulez  vous  bien  mon 


*  Je  me  trompe,  en  relisant  votre  lettre  je  vois  que  vous  1'avez  refu. 
32 


374  APPENDIX. 

ami,  vous  informer*  si  elle  est  encore  partie  du  Havre,  et  si  elle  y 
reste  encore,  donnez  des  ordres  pour  qu'on  me  1'envoye  par  le 
premier  batiment  marchand  ou  outre  qui  part  pour  Philadelphie 
ou  N.  York ;  et  qu'on  m'ecris  une  lettre  d'avis  en  meme  terns. 
Actuellement  que  nous  sommes  sur  les  commissions,  permittez 
que  je  vous  donnent  encore  quelques  unes ;  mais  a  cette  con 
dition  que  si  elle  vous  cause  trop  d'embarras  vous  ne  les  exe- 
cuterez  pas.  Vous  savez  que  j'ai  une  partie  de  la  petite  Bibli- 
otheque  des  Theatres ;  cette  ouvrage  me  plait,  et  je  voudrai 
1'avoir  complet.  J'ai  les  treize  volumes  du  ir  annde,  1784,  et 
les  NO.  i,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  9,  10,  du  2^e  annee,  1785.  II  me 
manque  en  consequence  le  N°-  8  du  2de  annee,  et  tous  les  N°s- 
qui  on  parru  depuis  le  NO.  10.  Tachez  je  vous  prie  de  mes  les 
procurer ;  je  dois  les  avoir  aux  prix  des  souscripteurs.  Je  ne 
sais  si  je  n'ai  pas  souscrit  pour  la  2<k  annee  ?  Voici  encore  ce 
que  je  desirerai  avoir,  ir.  Memoire  sur  les  moyens  de  con- 
struire  des  planchers  en  bois  avec  plus  de  solidite  et  d'economie 
que  1'on  n'a  fait  jusqu'a  present  pour  le  Sieur  Panseron  ;  chez 
1'auteur,  Rue  des  Masons  H.  46.  2de.  Histoire  japonoise  de 
Tangai  et  de  Neardane,  pr-  Crebillon  fils.  3'«e.  Une  pinte  des 
plus  beaux  marrons  de  Lyons — pour  planter.  Tout  cela  peut 
etre  mise  dans  une  petite  boiette,  et  si  elle  est  bien  distinctement 
addressee,  elle  me  parviendra  sans  difficult^ ;  mais  il  sera  tou- 
jours  prudent  que  je  recoive  une  lettre  d'avis  par  la  meme  occa 
sion.  Mon  ayeul  n'a  rec,u  que  les  5  premiers  volumes  du 
Diet6-  d'Agric6-  de  1'Abbd  Rozier,  il  desireroit  avoir  la  suite ; 
ainsi  que  la  Bibliotheque  Physyco  Economique,  depuis  Fan 
1785—61  ce  qui  a  paru  depuis  la  derniere  envoye  que  vous  ou 
M.  Grand  lui  a  fait  des  Me'moires  des  Chinois.  Pour  ce  qui 
regarde  mes  commissions  les  69's  que  vous  avez  a  moi  seront, 


*  It  will  be  perceived  by  the  orthography  of  his  letters,  which  I  have  deemed  it  my 
duty  to  follow  strictly,  that  Wm.  Temple  Franklin  did  not  profit  to  the  utmost,  by  his 
opportunities  of  learning  French  during  his  eight  years'  residence  with  his  grandfather 
at  Passy. 


APPENDIX.  375 

peutetre  assez,  si  non  vous  vous  addresserez  a  M.  Grand,  ainsi 
que  pour  ce  que  vous  debourserez  pour  mon  ayeul.  Nous 
avons  rec,u  le  vin  de  Cahusac  qui  est  fort  bon ;  mais  il  faut  que 
celle  dans  les  caisses  ait  dt^  mis  en  bouteille  dans  un  terns  de- 
favorable  attendu  que,  un  tiers  des  bouteilles  etait  cassis  ou 
vides,  les  bouchons  etant  partis.  Celui  en  futaille  a  un  peu 
perdue  en  quantitd  mais  rien  en  comparaison  de  celui  en  bouteille. 
Le  vin  est  en  general  bien  goute  ici,  mais  il  faut  du  terns  pour 
changer  le  gout  de  nos  buveurs  de  Madere,  et  de  Bordeaux.  Je 
me  suis  informe  de  plusieurs  personnes  au  sujet  de  M.  Bour- 
goin,  dont  vous  desirez  avoir  des  nouvelles ;  mais  jusqu'a  pre"- 
sent  je  n'ai  pu  savoir  s'il  est  arrive  en  Amerique.  Nous  avous 
a  Philadelphie  plusieurs  Francois,  entre  autres  un  M.  de 
Ferriere  qui  connait  tout  le  monde  a  Passy,  et  je  me  rapelle  de 
Tavoir  vu  chez  M.  Filleul,  mais  je  crois  qu'il  portait  alors  un 
autre  nom.  II  a  la  croix  de  St.  Louis,  et  on  dit  qu'il  a  etc* 
Prevot  de  Marechaux  de  France.  Cest  un  homme  d'environs 
40  a  45  ans,  d'une  figure  agreable,  et  il  me  parait  ce  qu'on  ap- 
pelle  en  France  bonne  enfant.  Donnez  moi  un  peu  son  His- 
toire — il  parle  de  s'etablir  aux  environs  de  Philadelphie  et  d'y 
faire  venir  sa  femme  de  Paris.  II  est  arrive"  en  Amerique  avec 
M.  de  St.  Try  et  M.  Brissot  de  Warville.  Notre  nouveau 
Gouvernement  va  toujours  son  train — plusieurs  Etats  ont  elu 
leurs  Senateurs,  le  peuple  doivent  elir  leur  Representatives  dans 
peu ;  c'est  au  mois  de  Mars  prochain  qu'ils  doivent  s'assembler. 
II  n'y  a  qu'une  voix  pour  le  President  General,  Hlustre  Wash 
ington  !  a  1'dgard  du  Vice  President  les  avis  sont  partages  entre 
les  General  Knox,  Messieurs  Hancock,  Adams,  etc.  Mon 
ayeul  ayant  servi  ses  trois  ans,  comme  President  de  cet  Etat, 
ou  a  elu  a  sa  place  le  General  Mifflin.  Mon  ayeul  s'appelle 
actuelment  un  free  man,  et  je  crois  qu'il  serait  difficile  de  1'en- 
gager  a  changer  cet  etat.  II  parait  on  ne  peut  pas  plus  content 
de  jouir  de  la  liberte"  et  du  repos.  II  est  maintenant  occupe  a 
e"crire  la  suite  de  sa  vie  que  vous  avez  desirez  avec  tant  d'em- 


376  APPENDIX. 

pressement.  Sa  sante  se  retablit  tous  les  jours.  Adieu,  mon 
ami.  Rapellez  moi  au  souvenir  de  tous  nos  amis  communs,  et 
dites  mille  choses  tendre  pour  moi  a  toute  votre  famille.  J'ecris 
a  M.  votre  fils.  W.  T.  F. 

"  M.  LE  VEILLARD." 


APPENDIX  No.  5. 
Benjamin  Franklin  to  M.  le  Veillard. 

[From  the  Le  Veillard  Collection.] 
*  "PHILADELPHIA,  Sept.  5,  1789. 

"  DEAR  FRIEND  :  I  have  had  notice  of  sundry  books  sent  out 
by  you,  but  none  of  them  are  come  to  hand  except  the  Diction- 
naire  d"1  Agriculture,  by  1'Abbe  Rogier.  My  grandson  also 
complains  of  not  receiving  a  package  or  case  sent  by  you  to 
him,  he  knows  not  by  what  conveyance,  nor  where  to  enquire 
for  it. 

"It  is  long  since  I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  hearing  from  you, 
the  last  letter  I  have  received  being  dated  the  2ist  of  February, 
but  when  I  have  no  new  letter  from  you,  I  console  myself  by 
reading  over  some  of  the  old  ones,  as  I  have  lately  done  those 
of  the  ist  April,  '88,  and  the  roth  of  Oct.  and  2;th  Nov.,  '88. 
Every  time  I  read  what  you  write,  I  receive  fresh  pleasure.  I 
have  already  answered  those  last-mentioned  letters,  and  now 
have  before  me  that  of  the  2ist  of  February  only.  I  am  sorry 
my  friend  Morris  failed  in  the  attention  he  ought  to  have  shown 
you,  but  I  hope  you  will  excuse  it  when  you  consider  that  an 
American  transported  from  the  tranquil  villages  of  his  country 
and  set  down  in  the  tourbillon  of  such  a  great  city  as  Paris 
must  necessarily  be  for  some  days  half  out  of  his  senses. 

"  I  hope  you  have  perfectly  recovered  of  yr.  fall  at  Madam 
Helvetius's,  and  that  you  now  enjoy  perfect  health ;  as  to  mine, 


APPENDIX.  377 

I  can  give  you  no  good  account.  I  have  a  long  time  been 
afflicted  with  almost  constant  and  grievous  pain,  to  combat  which 
I  have  been  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  opium,  which  indeed 
has  afforded  me  some  ease  from  time  to  time,  but  then  it  has 
taken  away  my  appetite  and  so  impeded  my  digestion  that  I  am 
become  totally  emaciated,  and  little  remains  of  me  but  a  skele 
ton  covered  with  a  skin.  In  this  situation  I  have  not  been  able 
to  continue  my  Memoirs,  and  now  I  suppose  I  shall  never  finish 
them.  Benjamin  has  made  a  copy  of  what  is  done,  for  you, 
which  shall  be  sent  by  the  first  safe  opportunity.  I  make  no 
remarks  to  you  concerning  your  public  affairs,  being  too  remote 
to  form  just  opinions  concerning  them ;  indeed,  I  \vonder  that 
you,  who  are  at  the  same  distance  from  us  "make  so  very  few 
mistakes  in  your  judgment  of  our  affairs.  At  present  we  think 
them  in  a  good  way,  the  Congress  are  employed  in  amending 
some  of  their  faults  supposed  to  be  in  our  constitution,  and  it  is 
expected  that  in  a  few  weeks  the  machine  will  be  in  orderly 
motion.  The  piece  of  M.  Target,  which  you  mention  as  having 
sent  me,  is  not  come  to  hand.  I  am  sorry  to  hear  of  the 
scarcity  which  has  afflicted  your  country.  We  have  had  here  a 
most  plentiful  harvest  of  all  the  productions  of  the  earth  without 
exception,  and  I  suppose  some  supplies  will  be  sent  you  from 
hence,  tho'  the  term  during  which  the  importation  was  admitted 
was  too  short,  considering  the  distance. 

"  My  family  join  in  every  affectionate  sentiment  respecting  you 

and  yours,  with 

"Your  sincere  friend, 

«B.  FRANKLIN." 
32* 


APPENDIX. 


APPENDIX  No.  6. 
Wm.  Temple  Franklin  to  M.  le   Vet  Hard. 

[From  the  Le  Veillard  Collection.] 

"  PHILADELPHIE,  22  Mai,  1790. 

"Vous  avez  deja  appris,  mon  cher  ami,  la  perte  que  vous  et 
moi,  et  tout  le  monde  a  essuez  dans  la  mort  de  ce  bon  et  aimable 
papa.  Quoique  nous  1'attendions  depuis  longtemps,  elle  ne  nous 
a  pas  moins  choquee  lorsqu'elle  est  arrive'e.  II  vous  aimait  bien 
tendrement,  ainsi  que  toute  votre  famille,  et  je  ne  doute  pas  que 
vous  ne  partagerez  mes  justes  douleurs.  Je  comptais  vous  dcrire 
les  details  de  la  mort  par  M.  de  Chaumont,  mais  Poccupation 
qu'elle  me  donne  pour  1'arrangement  de  ses  affaires  et  surtout 
de  ses  papiers,  m'en  ont  empeche,  et  m'empeche  meme  a  present 
de  repondre  a  vos  dernieres  lettres,  ainsi  qu'a  celle  que  Mile. 
votre  fille  a  bien  voulu  m'e'crire,  en  m'envoyant  de  son  ouvrage. 
J'ai  e'te'  on  ne  peut  pas  plus  touche  de  cette  marque  de  sa  con- 
descendance  et  de  son  amitie,  et  je  vous  prie  de  lui  en  temoigner 
ma  reconnaissance  en  attendant  que  j'ai  1'honneur  de  lui  ecrire, 
qui  sera  certainement  par  la  premiere  occasion  pour  France. 
Tout  paresseux  que  je  suis  pour  e'crire,  sa  bontd  m'e\Teillera. 
Cette  lettre  vous  arrivera  par  la  voie  d'Angleterre.  J'ai  cru  de 
voir  profiter  de  cette  occasion  pour  vous  apprendre  que  mon 
ayeul,  entre  d'autres  legs,  m'a  laisse  toutes  ses  papiers  et  manu- 
scrits,  avec  la  permission  d'en  tirer  tout  le  profit  qui  sera  en  mon 
pouvoir.  En  consequence,  je  vous  prie  tres  instament,  mon 
cher  ami,  de  ne  pas  montrer  a  qui  que  ce  soit,  cette  partie  de  sa 
vie  qu'il  vous  a  envoyee  il  y  a  quelque  terns,  attendu  que  quel- 
qu'un  pourrait  en  tirer  copie,  et  la  publier,  ce  qui  nuirait  infini- 
ment  a  la  publication  que  je  compte  faire,  aussitot  qu'il  sera 
possible,  de  sa  vie  entiere,  et  de  ses  autres  ouvrages.  Comme 
j'ai  1'original  ici  de  la  partie  que  vous  avez,  il  ne  sera  pas  ndces- 
saire  de  me  1'envoyer,  mais  je  vous  prie  toutefois  de  la  mettre 
sous  envellope,  bien  cachetic,  et  a  mon  addresse,  pour  qu'en  cas 


APPENDIX.  379 

d'acciclent,  elle  ne  passe  pas  en  d'autres  mains.  Si,  cependant, 
elle  est  necessaire  pour  assister  celui  qui  doit  faire  son  eloge  a 
1' Academic,  vous  pouvez  la  preter  pour  cela,  avec  stipulation 
qu'on  n'en  prendra  pas  copie,  et  d'autres  precautions  qui  vous 
paraitront  necessaires.  On  n'a  pas  encore  nomme  aux  emplois 
en  Europe;  il  est  possible  que  j'en  aurai  un,  ce  qui  me  mettrait 
a  meme  d'assister  a  la  publication  des  ouvrages  de  mon  ayeul ; 
mais  quand  meme  on  ne  pense  pas  a  moi,  il  est  tres  probable 
que  je  me  re"sous  de  faire  le  voyage  d'Europe,  attendu  que  je 
suis  bien  persuade*  d'en  tirer  plus  de  benefice  de  la  publication 
en  le  faisant  en  Angleterre  ou  en  France  que  dans  ce  pays-ci. 

"Adieu  pour  cette  fois,  dans  deux  ou  trois  semaines  j'espere 
pouvoir  vous  ecrire  directement,  ainsi  qu'a  mes  autres  amis,  et 
allies,  en  F ranee. 

"Aimez-moi,  mon  cher  ami;  j'ai  plus  que  jamais  besoin  de 
votre  amide*. 

«W.  T.  FRANKLIN." 


APPENDIX  No.  7. 

Preface  to  Memoirs  of  the  Life  and  Writings  of  Ben 
jamin  Franklin,  by  Wm.  Temple  Franklin.  Edi 
tion  of  1817. 

"An  apology  for  presenting  to  the  republic  of  letters  the 
authentic  memorials  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  illustrative  of  his 
life  and  times,  written  almost  entirely  with  his  own  hands,  would 
be  at  once  superfluous  and  disrespectful.  If  any  observation 
be  at  all  requisite  in  the  shape  of  explanations,  it  must  be  in 
answer  to  the  inquiry,  why  such  interesting  documents  have  been 
so  long  withheld  from  public  view  ?  To  this  the  editor  has  no 
hesitation  in  replying,  that  were  he  conscious  of  having  neglected 
a  solemn  trust,  by  disobeying  a  positive  injunction  ;  or  could  he 


380  APPENDIX. 

be  convinced  that  the  world  has  sustained  any  real  injury  by  the 
delay  of  the  publication,  he  certainly  should  take  shame  to  him 
self  for  not  having  sooner  committed  to  the  press  what  at  an 
earlier  period  would  have  been  much  more  to  his  pecuniary  ad 
vantage  ;  but  aware  as  he  is,  of  the  deference  due  to  the  general 
feeling  of  admiration  for  the  illustrious  dead,  he  is  not  less  sensi 
ble  that  there  are  times  and  seasons  when  prudence  imposes  the 
restriction  of  silence  in  the  gratification  even  of  the  most  laud 
able  curiosity.  It  was  the  lot  of  this  distinguished  character, 
above  most  men,  to  move,  in  the  prominent  parts  of  his  active 
life,  within  a  sphere  agitated  to  no  ordinary  degree  of  heat  by  the 
inflammatory  passions  of  political  fury ;  and  he  had  scarcely  seated 
himself  in  the  shade  of  repose  from  the  turmoil  of  public  em 
ployment,  when  another  revolution  burst  forth  with  far  more 
tremendous  violence,  during  the  progress  of  which  his  name 
was  adduced  by  anarchists  as  a  sanction  for  their  practices,  and 
his  authority  quoted  by  dreamy  theorists  in  support  of  their 
visionary  projects. 

«  Whether,  therefore,  the  publication  of  his  Memoirs  and  other 
papers,  amidst  such  a  scene  of  perturbation,  would  have  been 
conducive  to  the  desirable  ends  of  peace,  may  be  a  matter  of 
question  ;  but,  at  all  events,  the  sober  and  inquisitive  part  of 
mankind  can  have  no  cause  to  regret  the  suspension  of  what 
might  have  suffered  from  the  perverted  talents  of  designing  par 
tisans  and  infuriated  zealots.  It  may  fairly  be  observed,  that 
the  writings  of  Dr.  Franklin  are  calculated  to  serve  a  far  more 
important  purpose  than  that  of  ministering  to  the  views  of  party 
and  keeping  alive  national  divisions,  which,  however  necessitated 
by  circumstances,  ought  to  cease  with  the  occasion,  and  yield  to 
the  spirit  of  philanthropy.  Even  amidst  the  din  of  war  and  the 
contention  of  faction,  it  was  the  constant  aim  of  this  excellent 
man  to  promote  a  conciliatory  disposition,  and  to  correct  the 
acerbity  of  controversy.  Though  no  one  could  feel  more  sensi 
bly  for  the  wrongs  of  his  country,  or  have  more  enlarged  ideas 


APPENDIX.  3l 

on  the  subject  of  general  liberty,  his  powerful  efforts  to  redress 
the  one  and  extend  the  other,  were  always  connected  with  the 
paramount  object  of  social  improvement,  in  the  recommendation 
of  those  habits  which  tend  more  effectually  to  unite  men  together 
in  the  bonds  of  amity.  Happening,  however,  to  live  himself  in 
a  turbulent  period,  and  called  upon  to  take  a  leading  part  in  those 
scenes  which  produced  a  new  empire  in  the  Western  World, 
much  of  his  latter  Memoirs  and  correspondence  will  be  to  ex 
hibit  his  undisguised  thoughts  upon  the  public  men  and  occur 
rences  of  the  day.  These  sketches,  anecdotes,  and  reflections 
will  now  be  read  by  men  of  opposite  sentiments,  without  awaken 
ing  painful  recollections  or  rekindling  the  dying  embers  of  ani 
mosity,  while  the  historian  and  the  moralist  may  learn  from  them 
the  secret  springs  of  public  events,  and  the  folly  of  being  carried 
away  by  political  prejudice. 

"  While,  therefore,  some  contracted  minds  in  different  coun 
tries  may  be  querulously  disposed  to  censure  the  delay  that  has 
taken  place  in  the  publication  of  these  posthumous  papers,  it  is 
presumed  that  the  more  considerate  and  liberal  on  either  side  of 
the  Atlantic  will  approve  of  the  motives  which  have  operated  for 
the  procrastination,  even  though  the  period  has  so  far  exceeded 
the  nonuni  premarum  annum  assigned  by  Horace,  the  oldest 
and  best  of  critics,  for  the  appearance  of  a  finished  performance. 

»  The  editor,  in  offering  this  justificatory  plea  to  the  public, 
and  taking  credit  for  having  exercised  so  much  discretion  as  to 
keep  these  relics  in  his  private  custody  till  the  return  of  halcyon 
days  and  a  brightened  horizon,  when  their  true  value  might  be 
best  appreciated,  feels  that  he  has  discharged  his  duty  in  that 
manner  which  the  venerable  writer  himself  would  have  prescribed, 
could  he  have  anticipated  the  disorders  which  have  ravaged  the 
most  polished  and  enlightened  states  since  his  removal  from  this 
scene  of  pride  and  weakness,  where  nations  as  well  as  individ 
uals  have  their  periods  of  infancy  and  decrepitude,  of  moral  vigor 
and  wild  derangement. 


382  APPENDIX. 

"  Shortly  after  the  death  of  Dr.  Franklin,  there  were  not  want 
ing  the  usual  train  of  literary  speculators  to  exercise  their  indus 
try  in  collecting  his  avowed  productions,  together  with  those 
which  public  rumor  ascribed  to  his  pen.  These  miscellanies 
were  printed  in  various  forms,  both  in  England  and  America, 
greatly  to  the  advantage  of  the  publishers  ;  nor  did  the  possessor 
of  the  originals  avail  himself  of  the  general  avidity  and  the  celeb 
rity  of  his  ancestor,  to  deprive  those  persons  of  the  profits 
which  they  continued  to  reap  from  repeated  editions  of  papers 
that  have  cost  them  nothing.  When,  however,  they  had  reason 
to  apprehend  that  the  genuine  Memoirs  and  other  works  of 
Franklin,  as  written  and  corrected  by  himself,  would  be  brought 
forward  in  a  manner  suitable  to  their  importance  and  the  digni 
fied  rank  of  the  author  in  the  political  and  literary  world,  in 
vidious  reports  were  sent  abroad,  and  circulated  with  uncommon 
diligence;  asserting  that  all  the  literary  remains  of  Dr.  Franklin 
had  been  purchased  at  an  enormous  rate  by  the  British  ministry, 
who  (inirabile  dictii}  it  seems  were  more  afraid  of  this  arsenal 
of  paper  than  of  the  power  of  France,  with  all  her  numerous  re 
sources  and  auxiliaries.  This  convenient  tale,  absurd  as  it  was, 
found  reporters  both  in  Europe  and  in  the  United  States,  who 
bruited  it  about  with  so  much  art  as  to  make  many  who  were  unac 
quainted  with  the  legatee  of  the  manuscripts,  believe  it  to  be  true, 
and  to  lament  feelingly,  that  such  inestimable  productions  should 
be  suppressed,  and  lost  for  ever,  through  the  cupidity  of  the  per 
son  to  whom  they  were  bequeathed.  Provoking  as  the  story 
was,  the  party  whom  it  most  affected,  and  whose  interests  it  was 
designed  to  injure,  felt  too  much  of  the  conscia  mens  recti  to  do 
otherwise  than  treat  the  ridiculous  invention  with  contempt,  from 
a  persuasion  that  the  refutation  of  an  improbable  falsehood  is 
beneath  the  dignity  of  truth.  He,  therefore,  endured  the  oppro 
brium  without  complaint,  and  even  suffered  it  to  be  repeated 
without  being  goaded  into  an  explanation  ;  contented  to  wait 
for  the  time  when  he  might  best  fulfill  his  duty  and  shame  his 


APPENDIX.  383 

calumniators.  That  period  has  at  length  arrived,  and  the  world 
will  now  see  whether  an  enlightened  government  could  be  weak 
enough  to  be  frightened  by  the  posthumous  works  of  a  philoso 
pher  ;  or  whether  a  man  of  integrity,  bred  under  Franklin,  bear 
ing  his  name,  and  entrusted  with  his  confidence,  could  be  bribed 
into  an  act  of  treachery  to  his  memory. 

"  Of  the  present  collection  it  remains  to  be  observed,  that  the 
only  portion  which  has  hitherto  appeared  in  any  form,  is  the  first 
fasciculus  of  the  Memoirs  of  Dr.  Franklin,  extending  from  his 
birth  to  the  year  1757,  forming  one  hundred  and  seventy-five 
pages  only  of  the  present  volume.  But  even  what  has  formerly 
been  printed  of  this  part,  can  scarcely  lay  claim  to  originality, 
since  the  English  edition  is  no  more  than  a  translation  from  the 
French,  which  of  itself  is  a  professed  version  of  a  transcription  ; 
so  that  the  metamorphoses  of  this  interesting  piece  of  biography 
may  be  said  to  resemble  the  fate  of  Milton's  epic  poem,  which  a 
French  Abbe  paraphrased  into  inflated  prose,  and  which  an  Eng 
lish  writer,  ignorant  of  its  origin,  turned  back  again  under  the 
double  disguise  into  its  native  tongue. 

"Admitting,  however,  that  the  small  portion  of  the  Memoir 
given  to  the  world,  is  substantially  correct  in  the  materials  of 
the  narrative,  the  present  publication  of  it  7>mst  be  infinitely 
more  estimable  by  being  printed  literally  from  the  original  auto 
graph. 

"It  is  much  to  be  regretted,  that  Dr.  Frankiin  was  not  enabled, 
by  his  numerous  avocations  and  the  infirmities  of  old  age,  to 
complete  the  narrative  of  his  life  in  his  own  inimitable  manner. 
That  he  intended  to  have  done  this  is  certain,  from  his  corres 
pondence,  as  well  as  from  the  parts  in  continuation  of  the  Me 
moir  which  are  now  for  the  first  time  communicated  to  the  world. 
But  the  convulsed  state  of  things  during  the  American  Revolution, 
the  lively  concern  which  he  had  in  that  event,  and  his  multiplied 
public  engagements,  after  contributing  to  the  establishment  of 
the  independence  of  his  country,  prevented  him  from  indulging 


APPENDIX. 

his  own  inclinations,   and  complying  with  the  earnest  desire  of 
his  numerous  friends.  " 


APPENDIX  No.  8. 

Preface   to    "  Correspondancc   In  edit e,    etc.,   de    B. 
Franklin"     By  M.  Charles  Malo. 

[Translation.] 

"In  publishing  in  France  a  complete  Correspondence  of  Dr. 
Franklin,  I  have  intended  to  afford  the  public  an  opportunity  of 
enjoying  the  only  part  of  the  works  of  this  celebrated  man  which 
has  remained  unknown  to  us  up  to  this  time.  This  Correspond 
ence  has  the  inappreciable  advantage  of  being  neither  altered 
nor  abridged.  France,  England,  America,  there  play  a  part 
so  important  that  I  should  reproach  myself  if  I  had  suppressed 
the  smallest  passage  of  it.  Franklin  will  be  found  there  in  this 
Correspondence  complete  and  characteristic,  with  all  that  freedom 
of  speech  so  piquant  and  so  noble  which  he  indulged  toward  all 
the  courts  of  Europe. 

"Two  or  three  journals  have  announced  a  Select  Correspond 
ence  of  Franklin.  It  is  my  duty  to  enlighten  the  public  on  this 
fraudulent  speculation  of  M.  Temple  (Franklin).  Desirous  of 
prejudicing  the  interests  of  French  booksellers,  and  at  the  same 
time  desperate  at  having  been  so  unfortunately  anticipated  by 
the  appearance  of  a  Complete  Correspondence,  this  gentleman 
had  no  other  resource  but  to  make  a  Selected  Correspondence; 
but  he  has  not  foreseen  that  in  reducing  to  one-half  the  work 
which  I  publish  to-day  in  two  octavo  volumes,  he  would  really 
give  only  an  abridgment  of  it,  an  extract ;  that  his  boasted 
Selection  will  be  but  an  insignificant  piece  of  claptrap,  a  thing 
of  shreds  and  patches.  When,  in  fact,  will  the  formidable  scissors 
stop  of  a  foreigner  who  is  directed  by  considerations  of  self-love, 
and  animated  by  local  passions?  In  purchasing  'the  Abridged 


APPENDIX.  3S5 

Correspondence'  of  M.  Temple  (Franklin),  one  will  still  not  have 
Franklin.  But  let  us  be  just.  If  M.  Temple  (Franklin)  cuts 
up  and  pitilessly  lacerates  a  Correspondence  as  yet  entirely  un 
published,  and  which  was  absolutely  unknown  in  France,  in 
revenge,  and  by  an  equally  reasonable  calculation,  he  is  about  to 
reproduce  for  the  fourth  time,  that  is  to  say  to  satiety,  the  'Me 
moirs  of  the  Life  of  Franklin,'  printed  at  Paris,  for  the  first 
time,  in  1791  (one  volume  in  8vo.,  by  Buisson)  ;  for  the  second 
time,  in  the  year  II.  (one  volume  in  I2mo.,  Rue  Therese) ;  and 
for  the  third  time,  in  1800  (two  volumes  in  8vo.,  by  Buisson), 
from  the  English  edition  of  Dundee. 

"  I  owe  this  confidence  to  my  readers,  especially  to  that  public 
which  M.  Temple  (Franklin)  appeals  to,  that  it  may  be  duly 
instructed  as  to  the  merit  of  the  editions  of  which  this  person 
wishes  to  give  France  the  benefit. 

"Since  the  month  of  January,  and  by  many  French  book- 
publishers,  with  a  competition  much  more  formidable  than  the 
<•  Extracts  of  Correspondence]  which  M.  Temple  (Franklin)  an 
nounces  to-day,  and  to  satisfy  also  the  impatient  subscribers  of 
this  Complete  Correspondence,  the  literary  gentleman  charged 
with  it  has  judged  proper  to  confide  to  two  literary  men,  equally 
known  and  esteemed,  MM.  Cohen  and  Breton,  the  translation 
of  a  certain  number  of  sheets  of  the  second  volume. 

"  The  style  of  Franklin  became,  as  he  advanced  in  years,  less 
clear  and  less  vigorous  ;  that  of  his  correspondents  also  was 
frequently  diffuse  and  confused.  In  imposing  upon  himself  the 
rule  never  to  depart  from  the  original  in  any  respect,  the  trans 
lator  has  necessarily  encountered  numberless  difficulties,  and  has 
seen  himself  forced  to  reproduce  thousands  of  abstract  ideas. 
By  the  aid  of  a  convenient  selection  he  might  easily  have  been 
able  to  avoid  the  one,  and  substitute  his  own  ideas  for  the  others  ; 
but  the  glory  of  belittling  a  great  man,  of  abridging  Franklin, 
was  reserved  for  one  of  his  descendants.  Ought  we  to  inherit 
from  one  we  have  assassinated  ?" 
33  R 


3S6  APPENDIX. 


APPENDIX  No.  9. 

Extract  from  letter  of  Dr.   Franklin   to  Benjamin 
Vaughan,  dated  Nov.  2,  1789. 

*  "You  request  advice  from  me  respecting  your  conduct,  and 
desire  me  to  tell  you  their  faults.  As  to  your  conduct,  I  know 
nothing  that  looks  like  a  fault,  except  yr.  declining  to  act  in  any 
public  station,  although  you  are  qualified  to  do  much  public 
good  in  many  you  must  have  had  it  in  your  power  to  occupy. 
In  respect  to  yr.  writings,  your  language  seems  to  me  to  be  good 
and  pure,  and  your  sentiments  to  be  generally  just ;  but  your 
style  or  composition  wants  perspicuity,  and  this  I  think  owing 
principally  to  a  neglect  of  method.  What  I  would  therefore 
recommend  to  you  is,  that  before  you  sit  down  to  write  on  any 
subject  you  would  spend  some  days  in  considering  it,  putting 
down  at  the  same  time,  in  short  hints,  every  thought  which  oc 
curs  to  you  as  proper  to  make  a  part  of  yr.  intended  piece. 
When  you  have  thus  obtained  a  collection  of  the  thoughts,  ex 
amine  them  carefully  with  this  view,  to  find  which  of  them  is 
properest  to  be  presented  first  to  the  mind  of  the  reader,  that 
he  being  possessed  of  that,  may  be  better  disposed  to  receive 
what  you  intend  for  the  second ;  and  thus  I  would  have  you  put 
a  figure  before  each  thought  to  mark  its  future  place  in  your 
composition.  For  so  every  preceding  composition  preparing  the 
mind  for  that  which  is  to  follow,  and  the  reader  often  anticipating 
it,  he  proceeds  with  ease  and  pleasure  and  approbation,  as  seem 
ing  continually  to  meet  with  his  own  thoughts.  In  this  mode 
you  have  a  better  chance  for  a  perfect  production ;  because  the 
mind  attending  first  to  the  sentiments  alone,  next  to  the  method 
alone,  each  part  is  likely  to  be  better  performed,  and  I  think, 
too,  in  less  time. 

"  You  see  I  give  my  counsel  rather  bluntly,  without  attempting 


Sparks'  Works  of  Franklin,  vol.  x.  p.  397. 


APPENDIX.  387 

to  soften  my  manner  of  finding  fault  by  any  apology,  which  would 
give  some  people  great  offence  ;  but  in  the  present  situation  of 
affairs  between  us,  when  I  am  soliciting  the  advantage  of  your 
criticism  upon  a  work  of  mine,  it  is,  perhaps,  my  interest  that 
you  should  be  a  little  offended  in  order  to  produce  a  greater 
degree  of  wholesome  severity.  /  think  with  you  that  if  my 
Memoirs  are  to  be  published^  an  edition  of  them  should  be  printed 
in  England  for  that  coimtry,  as  well  as  here  for  this,  and  I 
shall  gladly  leave  it  to  your  friendly  management" 


INDEX. 


ACADEMY  founded  by  Franklin, 

275- 

,  the  church  built  for  White- 
field  purchased  for,  276. 

not  sectarian,  276. 

incorporated,  278. 

became  the  University  of 

Pennsylvania,  278. 

torn  down,  278. 

,     French,     entertainment 


given  Franklin  by,  27,  53,  63. 

Adams,  John,  20. 

,  Matthew,  lends  Franklin 

books,  93. 

Albany,  Congress  of  Commis 
sioners  to  treat  with  the  Six 
Nations  held  there,  295. 

Alexander,  James,  294. 

Allen,  William,  265. 

America,  Parliamentary  plan  to 
tax,  295. 

,  Lord  Granville's  view  of 

the  rights  of,  352. 
33  * 


Amherst,  General,  342. 

Art  of  Thinking,  98. 

of  Virtue,  the  title  of  a 

work  projected  by  Franklin, 
227,  231. 

Assembly,  Franklin  many  years  a 
member  of,  270. 

,  Franklin  moves  the  pur 
chase  of  a  fire-engine  to  get 
money  for  defence  of  the  colony, 
271. 

,  bill  introduced  to  incor 


porate  a  hospital,  283. 
,  bill  to  pave  and  light  the 


streets,  287,  300,  301,  302. 

petitions  the  King  against 


the  pretensions  of  the  Proprie 
taries,  338. 
sends  Franklin  as  its  agent 


to  London,  338. 
,  Franklin's  interview  with 


Lord  Granville  about  complaints 
of,  352. 

389 


39° 


INDEX. 


Assembly,  its  action  justified  by 
Franklin,  355. 

BACHE,  Benjamin,  grandson  of 
Dr.  Franklin,  toasted  by  the 
Bishop  of  St.  Asaph's,  66. 

Baird,  Dr.,  his  faith  in  Franklin, 
176. 

Baltimore,  Lord,  355. 

Bartram,  John,  botanist,  262. 

Beatty,  Mr.,  chaplain,  complained 
that  troops  did  not  attend  his 
prayers ;  Franklin's  remedy, 

323- 

Bethlehem,  troops  assembled 
there,  318. 

,  ten  farmers  of,  killed  by 

Indians,  320. 

Bigelow,  John,  receives  the  MS. 
Autobiography  of  Franklin, 
52. 

Bishop  of  St.  Asaph's.  See  Dr. 
Shipley. 

Blackbeard,  the  pirate,  93. 

Bond,  Dr.  Phineas,  General  Na 
tural  Philosopher  of  the  Phi 
losophical  Society,  263. 

,  anecdote  of,  315. 

,  Dr.  Thomas,  262. 

founds  a  hospital  in  Phila 
delphia,  281. 

interview  with  Franklin, 

282. 

Bonnell,  Captain,  anecdote  told 
by,  of  Lord  Loudoun,  343. 

Boston  News  Letter,  102. 

Botetourt,  Lord,  354. 

Bowdoin,  James,  letter  from 
Franklin  to,  about  his  interview 
with  Lord  Granville,  353. 

Brabanzon,  Mr.,  370. 


Braddock,  General,  sent  to  Vir 
ginia,  302. 

is  visited  at  Frederictown 

by  Franklin,  302. 

gives  Franklin  a  commis 


sion  to  procure  wagons,  303. 

defeat  and  flight,  309-313. 

account  -t)f,  by  Franklin, 


309. 
papers  lost,  comments  of, 

on  Franklin's  services,  314. 
Bradford,  Andrew,  114. 

,  Franklin  lodges  with,  115. 

,  postmaster,  188. 

forbids   the    postmen   to 

carry  Franklin's  paper,  189. 

Bradford,  William,  first  printer 
in  Pennsylvania,  107. 

removed  to  New  York,  107. 

advises  Franklin  to  seek 

employment  with  his  son  in 
Philadelphia,  107. 

Breintnal,  Joseph,  member  of  the 
Junto,  169. 

befriends  Franklin,  187. 

Brissot  de  Warville,  M.,  375. 

Brogden,  Charles,  131. 

Brown,  Dr.,  hotel  of,  at  Burling 
ton,  109. 

,  his  travestie  of  the  Bible, 

1 10. 

Brownell,      George,      Franklin's 

teacher,  86. 
Buisson  publishes  the  first  edition 

of  Memoirs  of  Franklin,  28. 

wishes   to   purchase   the 

MS.,  51. 

Burnet,  Governor,  cultivates  the 
acquaintance  of  Franklin,  124. 

,  marriage  of,  124. 

,  library  of,  124. 


INDEX. 


391 


Burnet's  theological  writings,  124. 

,    his    censorship    of    the 

clergy,  124. 

-,  Franklin's  comments  on 


one  of  his  messages,  181. 
Bunyan's    Works   purchased    by 

Franklin,  92. 
Burton's,  R.,  historical  collections 

purchased  by  Franklin,  92. 

CABANIS  on  the  Memoirs  of 
Franklin,  32. 

anecdote  of  Governor  Wm, 

Franklin,  46. 

,  Franklin's  favorite  read 
ing,  98. 

Cambridge  College  confers  de 
gree  of  Master  of  Arts  on 
Franklin,  293. 

Canton,  Mr.,  verified  Franklin's 
experiment  for  procuring  light 
ning  from  clouds  by  a  pointed 
rod,  334. 

Carlisle,  treaty  with  the  Indians 
at,  280. 

,  conduct  of  the  Indians,28o. 

Castera,  M.,  translates  Memoirs 
of  Franklin,  16. 

,  his  theory  of  their  origin 

incorrect,  17. 

preface  to  his  edition,  365. 

Charles,  Mr.,  provides  lodgings 
for  Franklin  in  London,  351. 

Chapel,  why  so  called,  148. 

Clair,  St.,  John,  307. 

Clapham,  Colonel,  takes  Frank 
lin's  command,  324. 

Clifton,  John,  287. 

Clinton,  Governor,  Franklin  dines 
with,  265. 

Cocker's  Arithmetic,  98. 


Colden,  Cadwallader,  262. 

Coleman,  William,  170. 

befriends  Franklin,  183, 

185,  1 86. 

,  Treasurer  of  Philosophi 
cal  Society,  263. 

Collins,  John,  a  bookish  acquaint 
ance  of  Franklin,  94. 

habits  of  disputation,  94. 

dispute  about  the  propriety 

of  educating  the  female  sex,  94. 

correspondence    on    the 


subject,  95. 
superiority  of  his  style  to 


Franklin's,  95. 
engages    a 


passage    for 


Franklin  to  go  to  New  York, 
1 06. 

determines  to  go  to  Phila 
delphia,  121. 

acquires  bad  habits,  123. 

borrows  money  of  Frank 
lin,  124. 

,  adventure  of,  in  a  boat, 


125- 


goes  to  Barbadoes  as  a 

tutor,  126. 

Collinson,    Peter,   sends   a  glass 
tube,  etc.,  to  Philadelphia,  330. 
,  Franklin  writes  to,  331. 

gives  letters  to  Cave  to 

publish,  331. 

Congress,  Franklin's  plan  of  a 
union  of  the  Colonies  laid  be 
fore,  and  approved,  204,  205. 

Cooper's  Creek,  Franklin  enters, 
in. 

Copley  medal,speech  of  Lord  Mac- 
clesfield  on  presenting,  brought 
over  by  Gov.  Denny,  335. 

Crusoe  by  De  Foe,  108. 


392 


INDEX. 


DALIBARD,  success  of  experiments 
of,  with  De  Lor,  brought  Frank 
lin's  letters  on  electricity  into 
notice,  333. 

De  Chaumont,  M.,  26. 

,  Le  Ray,  99. 

De  Foe's  Robinson  Crusoe ;  Moll 
Flanders  ;  Religious  Courtship ; 
Family  Instructor,  108. 

,  Essay  on  Projects,  92. 

De  Lor,  success  of  experiments 
of  with  Dalibard,  brought 
Franklin's  letters  on  electricity 
into  notice,  333. 

Denham,  Dr.,  befriends  Frank 
lin,  137,  138,  139. 

advice  to  Franklin,  152. 

,  instance  of  his  honesty, 

152. 

engages  Franklin  as  clerk, 

'53- 

Denny,  Captain,  Governor  of 
Pennsylvania,  300. 

disobeys  instructions  of  the 

Proprietaries,  300,  356. 

• arrival  of,  in  the  colony,335. 

brings  Franklin  the  Cop 
ley  medal,  335. 

advances  to  Franklin,  336. 

disputes  with  the  Assem 


bly,  337- 

,  description  of,  337. 

,    indignation   of   Proprie 


taries  toward,  358. 

letter  about,  from  Frank 
lin,  358. 

Dilly,  Mr.,  projects  a  new  edition 
of  Dr.  Franklin's  writings,  with 
a  life,  17. 

,  Franklin  objects  to  the 

life  sketched  for  Dr.  Lettsom,  18. 


Dunbar,  Colonel,  308. 

,  ignominious  flight  of,  312. 

disregards  his  promise  to 

Franklin,  314. 

Dunkers,  272. 

Duplessis,  Joseph  Siffred,  pastel 
portrait  of  Franklin  by,  pre 
sented  to  M.  le  Veillard,  52,  54. 

ECTON,  in  England,  Franklin's 
family  had  lived  there  300  years, 

74- 

,  his  grandfather  was  born 

there,  76. 

Edinburgh  Review,  on  the  charge 
that  Wm.  Temple  Franklin  had 
been  hired  by  the  British  Gov 
ernment  not  to  publish  his 
grandfather's  works,  40-42. 

Electricity,  origin  of  Franklin's 
experiments  in,  329. 

,  letters  on,  to  Collinson 

and  others,  331. 

,  Count  Buffon  persuades 

Dalibard  to  translate  them  into 
French,  332. 

criticised  by  Abbe  Nollet, 

332. 

,  summary  of  the  experi 
ments  printed  among  the  Trans 
actions  of  the  Royal  Society,  334. 

,  chosen  a  member  of  the 


Royal  Society  for,  334. 

Elliott,  Jared,  letter  to,  from  Frank 
lin  in  defence  of  vanity,  69. 

Emmons,  Mrs.,  great-granddaugh 
ter  of  Franklin,  79. 

possesses  the  MS.  volumes 

of  poetry  of  Benjamin  Franklin, 
the  dyer,  78. 

Erving,  Mr.,  353. 


INDEX. 


393 


FAMILY  INSTRUCTOR,  by  De  Foe, 
1 08. 

Ferriere,  M.,  375. 

Feuillet,  M.,  cannot  complete  the 
translation  of  Franklin's  Me 
moirs,  35. 

Folger,  Abiah,  second  wife  of 
Franklin's  father,  83. 

,  daughter  of  Peter  Folger, 


83- 


suckled  her  ten  children, 


,  epitaph  on,  89. 

Folger,    Peter,    father  of   Abiah 
Folger,  Franklin's  mother,  83. 

honorably  mentioned  by 

Cotton  Mather,  83. 

,  specimen  of  his  verses,  83. 

Fothergill,  Dr.,  Franklin's  opinion 
of,  288. 

Franklin's   proposal   to, 

289,  290. 

advises    publication    of 

Franklin's  letters  to  Collinson 
and  others  on  electricity,  331. 

advice  to  Franklin  on  his 


arrival  in  London  as  agent  of 
the  Colonies,  351. 

arranges  a  meeting  of  the 

Proprietaries  with  Franklin,  354. 

France,  war  with,  apprehended, 
294. 

,  war  with,  commenced,3OO. 

Francis,  Mr.,  attorney-general, 
helps  Franklin  draw  up  a  con 
stitution  for  an  academy,  275. 

Francis,  Dr.  John  W.,  saw  Wm. 
T.  Franklin  in  London  ;  his  ex 
planation  of  Wm.  T.  Franklin's 
delay  in  publishing  his  grand 
father's  works,  43. 


Franklin,  Benjamin,  his  age,  7,  25. 

commenced  his  Memoirs, 

78. 
resumed  at  Passy  in  1784, 


,  portrait  of,  by  Duplessis, 

presented  to  M.  le  Veillard,  8. 
,  changes  made  in  his  Me 


moirs  by  the  editor  of  the  edi 
tion  of  1817,  9-14. 
objects  to  a  sketch  made 


for  Dr.  Lettsom,  18. 
letters  concerning  his  Me 


moirs  to  Edward  Bancroft,  17. 
letter  to   M.   le  Veillard, 


18,  19,  20,  21,  22. 

letter  to  Mr.  Vaughan,  22, 


23- 

letters  from  Wm.  T.  Frank 
lin,  19,  26,  32,  34,  35,  36,  37. 

builds  an  addition  to  his 


house,  1 8. 

afflicted  with  gout,  19. 

resolved  to  engage  in  no 


new  public  employment,  19. 
served  three  years  as  Presi 


dent  of  Pennsylvania,  20. 
proposed  to  retire  to  his 


grandson's  farm  in  New  Jersey, 

21. 

resumes  Memoirs  in  1 798, 

22. 

tortured  by  stone,  22. 

has  recourse  to  opium,  22. 

all  hope  of  completing  the 

Memoirs  abandoned,  22. 
ask  Mr.  Vaughan's  advice 


about  the  Memoirs,  23. 
,   eloge   of,   by   Rochefou- 


cault,  24. 


16. 


R* 


394 


INDEX. 


Franklin's,  Benjamin,   habits   of 

composition,  53. 
,  his  Outline  of  Topics  for 

his  Memoirs,  52,  60. 
,  portrait  of,  by  Duplessis, 


54- 

,  presented  to  M.  le  Veil- 
lard,  54. 

motives    for  writing   his 

Memoirs,  67. 

would  have  no  objection 


to  live  his  life  over,  68. 
considered  vanity  one  of 


the  comforts  of  life,  69. 
,  receives   from    an   uncle 


some  notes  relating  to  his  an 
cestors,  74. 

,  his  family  had  lived  in 

Ecton,  in  Northamptonshire,  74. 

,  the  ancient  name  of  a  rank 


or  order  in  England,  75. 
named  after  his  uncle  Ben 


jamin,  79. 
found  a  collection  of  pam 


phlets   in   London  which   this 
uncle  had  made,  80. 

family  became  Protestants 

at  an  early  period  of  the  Refor 
mation,  82. 
anecdote  about  reading  the 


Bible  during  the  reign  of  Queen 
Mary,  82. 

,  where  born  and  when,  83. 

put  to  a  grammar-school 

at  eight  years  of  age,  85. 

at  the  head  of  his  class,  85. 

intended  for  the  church,  85. 

sent  to  a  school  for  writ 
ing  and  arithmetic,  85. 

discontented  with  tallow 

chandlery,  91. 


Franklin,  Benjamin,  sent  to  learn 
the  cutlery  trade  with  his  cousin 
Samuel,  91. 

taken  home  again,  91. 

fond  of  reading,  91. 

purchases  Bunyan's  works, 

92. 

sells  them  to  buy  R.  Bur 
ton's  historical  collections,  92. 

failed  in  arithmetic,  86. 

at  ten  leaves  school  and 

assists  his  father  to  cut  wicks 
for  candles,  etc.,  86. 

dislikes  his  trade,  86. 

inclination  for  the  sea,  86. 

discouraged  by  his  father, 


86. 
builds  a  fishing  wharf  with 

stones  intended  for  a  house,  86. 

censured  by  his  father,  87. 

description  of  his  father,  87. 

description  of  his  mother, 

89. 
places  a  marble  inscription 

over  his  parents'  grave,  89. 
reads  Plutarch's  Lives,  De 


Foe's   Essay  on   Projects,  and 
Dr.    Mather's    Essays    to    do 
Good,  92. 
bound  as  a  printer's  ap 


prentice  to  his  brother  James,  92. 

measures  taken  to  gratify 

his  taste  for  reading,  93. 

borrowed  books  of  Mat 
thew  Adams,  93. 

writes  ballads,  "  The  Light 
house  Tragedy,"  93. 

is  sent  to  hawk  them  about 


the  streets,  93. 
discouraged  by  his  father 


from  verse-making,  93. 


INDEX. 


395 


Franklin,  Benjamin,  devotes  him 
self  to  prose  writing,  94. 

makes  the  acquaintance  of 

John  Collins,  94. 

fondness   for   disputation 


acquired.  94. 

,  why  discouraged,  94. 

disputes  with  Collins  about 


the  relative  capacity  of  the  two 
sexes,  94. 

correspondence    on    the 

subject,  95. 

criticisms   of   his    father 


thereupon,  95. 

reads  T/ie  Spectator,  95. 

imitates  it,  96. 

advantages  of  these  exer 


cises,  96. 

spends    Sundays   in  the 

printing-office,  97. 

adopts  a  vegetable  diet,  97. 

advantages   it   gave  him 


over  the  other  apprentices,  97. 

studies    Cocker's   Arith 
metic,  98. 

studies  navigation,  98. 

Locke  on  Human  Under 


standing,  98. 

Art  of  Thinking,  98. 

Greenwood's  Eng.  Gram 


mar,  99. 

Xenophon's  Memorabilia, 


99- 


Shaftcsbury  and  Collins, 

99- 

bad  translation  of  Provin 
cial  Letters,  99. 

adopts  the  Socratic  me 


thod  of  disputation,  99. 

abandoned  it  and  why,  100. 

specimen  of  his  irony,  98. 


Franklin,  Benjamin,  writes  for  his 
brother's  newspaper,  and  carries 
the  paper  to  subscribers,  102. 

encouraged  by  his  success 

as  a  writer,  103. 

,  differences  arise  between 


him  and  his  brother,  103. 
,   his    brother   imprisoned 


for  an  article  in  the  paper,  104. 
examined  before  the  coun 
cil  and  admonished,  104. 
manages  the  paper  during 


his  brother's  imprisonment,  104. 
,  Courant  published  in  the 


name  of,  105. 
,  old  indentures  returned  to 


him,  105. 
,  fresh  differences  with  his 


brother,  105. 

,  first  erratum  of  his  life,  105. 

leaves  his  brother,  105. 

brother  prevents  his  get 


ting  work  in  Boston,  106. 
determines  to  leave  Bos 


ton,  1 06. 
father  opposes  his  leaving, 


1 06. 

,  Collins  assists  him,  106. 

takes  passage  on  a  sloop 

for  New  York,  106. 

arrival  in  New  York,  106. 

offers  his  service  to  Wm. 


Bradford,  107. 
is  advised  to  go  to  Phila 


delphia,  107. 
takes  passage  for  Amboy, 


is  driven  by  a  storm  on 

Long  Island,  107. 

saves  a  drunken  Dutch' 


man  from  drowning,  107. 


396 


INDEX. 


Franklin,  Benjamin,  Bunyan's  Pil 
grim's  Progress,  108. 

reaches  Amboy  in  thirty 

hours,  109. 

journey  to  Burlington,  109. 

,  Dr.  Brown,  109. 

stay  at  Burlington,  no. 

voyage  to  Philacla.,  in. 

lands    at    Market   street 


wharf,  in. 

situation  and  appearance 

of,  on  arriving,  ill. 

first  breakfast  in   Phila 


delphia,  112. 
is  seen  by  his  future  wife, 


112. 

first  religious  worship  in 

Philadelphia,  113. 

first  sleep  in  Philada.,  113. 

lodges  at  the  Crooked  Bil 
let,  113. 

calls  upon  Andrew  Brad 


ford,  114. 
-  is  employed  by  Keimer, 


-  boards  with  Mr.  Read,  116. 

-  is  encouraged  by  Gover 
nor  Keith,  117. 

-  urged  by  him  to  set  up  a 
printing-press,  118. 

-  goes  to  Boston  to  consult 


his  father,  119. 

visits  the   printing-office, 

119. 

,  anger  of  his  brother,  120. 

,  his  father  discourages  the 

printing  enterprise,  1 20. 
visits  his  brother  John  at 

Newport,  122. 

adventure  on  the  voyage 


to  New  York,  122. 


Franklin,  Benjamin,  lends  money 
to  Collins,  124. 

makes   the   acquaintance 

of  Governor  Burnet,  1 24. 

lends  Vernon's  money  to 


Collins,  125. 

adventure  with  Collins,  1 25. 

engages  with  Sir  William 


Keith  to  go  to  London  to  buy 
equipment  of  a  printing-office, 
127. 
-    returns   to   eating  meat, 


128. 

-  ,  intercourse  of,  with  Kei 
mer,  129. 

-  ,  intimate  acquaintances  of, 


literary  exercises,  132. 

sails  for  England,  137. 

arrival  in  London,  138. 

,  no  letters  in  the  mail  for 

him  from  Governor  Keith,  138. 
,  knavery  of  Keith  disco 


vered,  138. 

gets  work  in  a  printing- 
office,  141. 

writes   a   dissertation   on 


"  Liberty  and  Necessity,  Plea 
sure  and  Pain,"  141. 
new    London    acquaint 


ances,  142. 
sells  an  asbestos  purse  to 


Sir  Hans  Sloane,  143. 

attempts  familiarities  with 

Ralph's  mistress,  145. 

,  its  consequences,  146. 

temperate  habits  in  Lon 


don,  147. 

difficulties  with  fellow- 
workmen  ;  how  he  surmounted 
them,  148. 


INDEX. 


397 


Franklin,  Benjamin,  his  landlady 
in  Duke  street,  149. 

,  a  maiden  lady  his  fellow- 
lodger,  150. 

teaches  swimming,  151. 

swims  from  Chelsea  to 

Blackfriars,  152. 

is  asked  to  teach  the  sons 


of  Sir  William  Windham,  154. 
engaged  by  Mr.  Denham 


as  clerk,  153. 

returns  to  Phila.,  155. 

meets  Keith,  155. 

,   death   of  Mr.    Denham, 


156. 

,  legacy  from,  156. 

takes  the  management  of 

Keimer's  printing-house,  157. 

,  his  associates,  157. 

quarrels  with  Keimer  and 


leaves  him,  160. 

projects  a  partnership  with 


Meredith,  161. 

sends   to   England  for  a 

printer's  equipment,  161. 

returns  to  work  for  Kei 
mer,  162. 

religious  impressions,  164. 

opens  his  new  printing- 
house,  167. 

,  his  first  job,  167. 

industry  and  frugality,  176. 

,    their    effect    upon    his 


credit,  176. 

projects  a  newspaper,  177. 

writes  the  Busy  Body,  177. 

buys  out  Keimer's  paper, 

177. 

,  his  salutatory,  178. 

attracts   attention  to   his 

paper,  180. 
34 


Franklin,   Benjamin,  is  sued  for 
the  price  of  their   type,  183. 

befriended    by    William 

Coleman    and    Robert    Grace, 
183. 

separation    from     Mere 
dith,  184. 

,  his  habits  at  this  time,  187. 

marries  Miss  Read,  191. 

projects  the  Philadelphia 


Library,  194. 
mode  of  getting  subscri 


bers,  206-209. 

prosperity,  209. 

progress  of  luxury  in  his 


family,  210. 

views  of  religion,  210,  211. 

disgusted  with  his  minis 


ter,  212. 

advice  to  his  daughter,  213. 

conceives  the  project  of 

arriving  at  perfection,  213. 

mode  of  executing  it,  214. 

plans  for  self-examination, 


223. 

want  of  order,  224. 

,  pride  of,  228. 

,  how  he  avoided  dogma 
tism,  229. 

projects  a  new  sect,  233. 

,  its  creed,  233. 

publishes  Poor  Richard's 


Almanac,  235. 

sends    a    journeyman   to 

South  Carolina,  238 ;  good  re 
sults  from  it,  239. 

becomes    the    champion 

of   Hemphill,    a    Presbyterian 
preacher,  239. 

quits  the  congregation  on 


Hemphill's  dismission,  241. 


INDEX. 


Franklin,  Benjamin,  learns  the 
French,  Italian,  Spanish  and 
Latin  languages,  241. 

advises  the  study  of  the 

living    languages     before    the 
dead,  242. 

revisits  Boston,  243. 

visits  Newport,  243. 

reconciliation    with 


his 


brother,  243. 
makes 


amends  to  his 
brother  for  breaking  his  inden 
tures,  244. 

loses  one  of  his  sons,  244. 

recommends  inoculation, 


244. 

chosen  clerk  of  the  As 
sembly,  245. 

,  method  of,  to  disarm  an 

opponent,  246. 

appointed  postmaster,  247. 

organizes  a  city  watch, 


organizes  a  fire  company, 


248. 


250. 

,    his    account   of    White- 
field,  251. 

projects  an  academy,  260. 

establishes  a  Philosophical 


Society,  260. 

original  members,  262. 

secretary  of  it,  263. 

organizes  the  militia,  263. 

declines  office  of  colonel, 

264. 

proposes  a  lottery  to  de 
fray  expense  of  building  and 
equipping  a  battery,  264. 

sent  to  New  York  to  bor 


row  cannon,  265. 
proposes  a  fast,  265. 


Franklin,  Benjamin,  why  he  would 
not  resign  as  clerk  of  Assem 
bly,  266. 

invents  a  stove,  273.'- 

presents  the  model  to  R. 

Grace,  273. 

writes  a  pamphlet  about 


it,  273. 


is  offered  a  patent  for  his 

stove,  274. 

declines  it,  and  why,  274. 

writes  proposals  relating 

to   the   education  of  youth  in 
Pennsylvania,  275. 

formed  a  partnership  with 


David  Hall,  277. 

purchased   Dr.    Spence's 


philosophical  apparatus,  278. 
named    a  justice  of  the 


peace,  279. 

named  a  member  of  the 

Common  Council,  279. 

named  a   burgess  to  the 

Assembly,  279. 

re-elected  to  the  Assembly 

ten  years,  279. 

declines  to  serve  as 


jus 
tice  of  the  peace,  279. 
,  his  son  appointed  clerk 


of  the  Assembly,  280. 
named  a  commissioner  to 


treat  with  the  Indians,  280. 

reports  a  bill  incorporat 
ing  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital, 
283. 

,  measures  taken  to  clean 


and  pave  the  streets,  285. 
,  anecdote  of  street-sweep 
ing  in  London,  289. 
proposal  to  Dr.   Fother- 


gill,  289. 


INDEX. 


399 


Franklin,    Benjamin,     appointed 

postmaster-general,  293. 
made  Master  of  Arts,  293. 

appointed  to  confer  with 

the  Six  Nations,  294. 

projects  a  plan  of  union 

of  the  Colonies,  294. 

lays   it  before  Congress, 


294. 

,  it  is  reported,  295. 

dictates  Quincy's  address 

to  the   Assembly   of   Pennsyl 
vania,  asking  aid,  300. 

plan  for  Quincy's   relief, 

301. 

their  friendship,  301. 

visits  Gen.  Braddock,  302. 

receives    a    commission 


from  the   general  to   purchase 
horses,  wagons,  provisions,  etc., 

303- 
,  Braddock's  defeat,  309- 

3*3- 

loss  by,  309. 

,  his  opinion  of  Braddock, 


310. 

,  the  reward  he  asked  for 

his  services,  314. 

recommended    by   Brad- 
dock  to  the  government,  314. 

appointed  to  superintend 

the  defence  of  the  North-west 
ern  frontier,  319. 

measures  for  defence   at 

Gnadenhut,  318,  319. 

resumes  his   seat  in  the 

Assembly,  324, 

chosen  colonel  of  the  first 


regiment  of  militia,  326. 

escorted  to  lower  ferry  on 

his  way  to  Lower  Virginia,  327. 


Franklin,  Benjamin,  indignation 
of  the  proprietaries,  327. 

they  accuse  him  to  the 

ministry,  328. 

declines  a  commission  as 

general,  329. 

,  progress  of  philosophical 


experiments  of,  329. 
gives  accounts  of  his  ex 


periments  to  Mr.  Collinson,  33 1. 
,  also  to  Mr.  Kinnersley, 

331- 

letters    shown    to     Dr. 

Fothergill,  331. 

printed  in  a  pamphlet  by 

editor  of  Gentleman's  Maga 
zine,  331. 

elected  a  member  of  the 

Royal  Society  free  of  expense, 

334- 

presented  with  the  Cop 
ley  Medal,  334. 

.    advances    of    Governor 


Denny,  335. 

reply  to  the  governor,  335. 

sent  to  London  as  agent 


of  the  colony,  335. 
arrival  at  Falmouth,  350. 

visits    Stonehenge    and 

Lord  Pembroke's  place  at  Wil 
ton,  350. 

visits   Dr.    Fothergill   in 

London,  351. 

visits  Peter  Collinson,  351. 

calls  with  Mr.   Hanbury 


upon  Lord  Granville,  352. 
important  interview  with, 

352. 
conference  at  T.  Penn's 


house  in  London  with  the  pro 
prietaries,  354. 


400 


INDEX. 


Franklin,  Benjamin,  consulted  by 
Lord  Mansfield,  357. 

satisfactory  arrangement 

negotiated,  358. 

,  indignation  of  the  pro 
prietaries,  358. 

Franklin,  uncle  of  Dr.  Franklin, 
from  whom  he  was  named,  78. 

,  bred  a  silk  dyer ;  came  to 

America  and  lived  with  the 
Doctor's  father  in  Boston  to  a 
great  age,  78. 

left  two  MS.  volumes  of 

poetry,  78. 

,  specimens,  79. 

wrote  short-hand,  and  had 


taken  down  many  volumes  of 
sermons,  80. 

proposed  to  give  them  to 

his  nephew,  85. 
collection   of  pamphlets, 


80. 

Franklin,  James,  brother  of  Benja 
min,  92. 

projects  a  newspaper,  92. 

,  Benjamin  apprenticed  to 

him,  92. 

encourages   Benjamin   to 


write  poetry,  93. 
sends  him  about  the  town 

to  sell  his  ballads,  93. 
starts  the  New  England 


Courant,  101. 
encourages   Benjamin  to 

write  for  him,  103. 
,  differences  arise  between 


him  and  Benjamin,  103. 

sustained  generally  by  his 


father,  104. 
is  imprisoned  for  an  article 


in  his  paper,  104. 


Franklin,  James,  forbidden  to  pub* 

lish  the  Courant,  105. 
,  Courant  continued  under 

Benjamin  Franklin's  name,  105. 
new  quarrel  with  Benja 


min,  105. 

,  Benjamin  breaks  his  in 
dentures  and  leaves  for  New 

York,  106. 

,  angry  with  Benjamin,  120. 

Franklin,  John,  uncle  of  Doctor 

Franklin,  was  bred  a  dyer  of 

woolens,  78. 
Franklin,  Josiah,  father  of  Doctor 

Franklin,  82. 

,  married  young,  82. 

moved  with  his  family  to 

New  England  in  1682,  82. 

had  seventeen  children,  83. 

,    Benjamin,    the    younger 


son,  83. 

,  letter  to,  76. 

embarks  in  tallow  chand 
lery,  86. 

,  description  of,  by  Benja 
min,  87. 
,  epitaph  on,  89. 

discourages     Benjamin 

from  writing  verses,  93. 

criticises  his  prose,  95. 

opposes  his  going  to  New 


See 


York,  1 06. 

Franklin,    Mrs.    Benjamin. 
Miss  Read. 

Franklin,  Samuel,  letter  to,  from 
Dr.  Franklin,  81. 

Franklin,  Thomas,  uncle  of  Dr. 
Franklin,  bred  a  smith,  77. 

became  a  scrivener,  78. 

died  in  1 702,  four  years  be 
fore  the  Doctor  was  born,  78. 


INDEX. 


4OI 


Franklin,  William,  Governor  of 
New  Jersey;  Dr.  Franklin's 
Autobiography  addressed  to, 
9,66. 

,  not  Governor  of  New  Jer 
sey  when  the  Autobiography 
was  revised  by  its  author,  9. 

appointed  clerk  of  As 
sembly,  280. 

supposed  to  have  induced 


delay  in  the  publication  of  his 
father's  works,  43,  44. 
infatuated  with  the  title  of 


Excellency,  46. 

died  in  1813,  43. 

accompanies  his  father  to 

visit  General  Braddock,  302. 
authorized  to  contract  for 


the  purchase  of  horses,  wagons, 
provisions,  etc.,  for  Braddock's 
army,  305. 
drew  up  a  list  of  stores  re 


quired  for  Braddock's  soldiers, 
308. 
aid-de-camp  to  his  father, 

318- 

Franklin,  William  Temple,  grand 
son  of  Dr.  Franklin,  inherits  the 
papers  of  Dr.  Franklin,  7,  25, 
26,  27,  50. 

exchanges  original  MS.  of 

Memoirs  for  copy  in  possession 
of  Madame  le  Veillard,  8, 38, 39. 

,  letters  from,  to  M.  le  Veil- 
lard,  announcing  his  grand 
father's  death,  26. 

requests  the  copy  of  his 


grandfather's  Memoirs  may  not 
be  shown,  27. 

expects  a  foreign  appoint 

ment,  27. 
34* 


Franklin,  William  Temple,  pro 
poses  to  publish  his  grand 
father's  works  in  England  or  in 
France,  27. 

goes  to  London,  27. 

receives  a  salary  of  £7000, 


35- 

letters  to  M.  le  Veillard, 

19,  26,32,34,35,36,37,50,51. 

feels  totally  neglected  by 


his  government,  37. 
edition  of  Franklin's  works 


do  not  appear  till  1817,  37. 
,    this    delay    commented 


upon,  40-47. 

,  vindication  of  himself,  42. 

,  its  weakness,  45,  46. 

,   attack    on    him    by   M. 

Charles  Malo,  47. 
overlooks  eight  MS.  pages 

of  Autograph ;  how  it  occurred, 

39,  40- 

,  orthography  of,  374. 

Fire  company,  first  one  organized 

by  Franklin,  250. 
,   most    of    the    members 


Quakers,  267. 

,  anecdotes  of,  267,  271. 

Friends.     See  Quakers. 

GAUTIER,  MADAME,  procures  for 
Sir  Samuel  Romilly  the  privi 
lege  of  reading  the  Autobiogra 
phy  of  Franklin,  39. 

Gentlemen?*  Magazine,  dialogue 
by  Franklin  in,  317. 

,  editor  of,  publishes  Frank 
lin's  letters  on  electricity,  331. 

Gibbon,  Ed\vard,view  of  vanity,  70. 

,  obligations  to  the  Provin 
cial  Letters,  98. 


402 


INDEX. 


Gibbon,  Edward,  his  views  on  the 
study  of  the  dead  languages 
cited,  243. 

Gibelin,  Jaques,  translates  first 
edition  of  Memoirs  of  Frank 
lin,  31. 

,  how  he  got  possession  of 

the  MS.,  32. 

Gnadenhut,  measures  for  defence 
at,  318-324. 

Godfrey,  Thomas,  a  glazier,  167. 

,  Franklin  boards  with,  167. 

,  member  of  the  Junto,  169, 

262. 

,  marriage  with  his  relative 

projected  for  Franklin,  189. 

,  why  abandoned,  190. 

Grace,  Robert,  170. 

befriends  Franklin,  183, 

185,  1 86. 

Graves,  Mr.,  declined  the  gover 
norship  of  the  Colony  of  Penn 
sylvania,  359. 

Greenwood's  Grammar,  99. 

HALL,  DAVID,  Franklin's  part 
ner,  277. 

Hamilton,  Mr.,  sails  with  Frank 
lin  to  London,  137. 

,  interests  himself  for  Frank 
lin,  182. 

,  governor  names  commis 
sioners  to  treat  with  Six  Na 
tions,  294. 

,  superseded  by  Governor 


Morris,  297. 
quits  the  government,  299. 


Hanbury,  John,  takes  Franklin  to 

see  Lord  Granville,  352. 
Hancock,  John,  20. 
Helvetius,  Madame,  22. 


Hemphill,  Presbyterian  preacher, 
Franklin  attends  his  church, 
239- 

-    convicted    of   preaching 
borrowed  sermons,  240. 
dismissed,  241. 


Holmes,  Captain,  brother-in-law 
of  Franklin,  117. 

speaks  of  him  to  Governor 

Keith,  117. 

encourages  Franklin  to 

establish  a  printing-press  in 
Philadelphia,  120. 

Hopkinson,  Thomas,  president 
of  Philosophical  Society,  263. 

House,  George,  gives  Franklin 
his  first  job,  167. 

Howe,  Lord,  paper  relating  to 
negotiations  with,  supposed  to 
have  been  suppressed,  44. 

Hume,  David,  his  theory  of  vani 
ty,  73- 

remembers  seeing  General 

Bradclock's  report  highly  re 
commending  Franklin,  314. 

Hunter,  William,  appointed  post 
master  jointly  with  Franklin, 
293- 

INNIS,  his  opinion  of  Lord  Lou- 
doun,  341. 

JAMES,  ABEL,  is  shown  Memoirs 
of  Franklin,  15. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  paper  shown 
him  by  Franklin  supposed  to 
have  been  suppressed,  43. 

Junto,  the,  168. 

,  first  members,  169. 

,  regulations  and  history, 


171. 


INDEX. 


4°3 


Junto,  plan    to   enlarge   its   use 
fulness,  245. 

KEIMER  employs  Franklin,  115. 

one  of  the  French  pro 
phets,  1 1 6. 

proposes  to  start  a  new 

sect,  129. 

,  eccentricities  of,  129. 

engages  Franklin  again  on 


his  return  from  England,  157. 
,  new  quarrel  and  separa 


tion,  1 60. 

,  new  engagement  with,  162. 

establishes  a  paper,  177. 

sells  it  to  Franklin,  177. 

Keith,  George,  Governor  of  Penn 
sylvania,  107. 

Keith,  Sir  William,  visits  Frank 
lin,  and  invites  him  to  estab 
lish  a  printing-press,  118. 

proposes  to  give  Franklin 

the  money  to  go  to  England  and 
buy  the  equipment  for  a  print 
ing-establishment,  127. 

delay  in  furnishing  the  let 
ters  of  credit,  136. 

goes  to  Barbadoes,  187. 


Kennedy,  Captain,  wager  of,  347. 

saves  the  ship  in  which 

Franklin  sailed  to  England,  350. 
Kennedy,  Mr.,  294. 

LABOULAYE,  EDWARD,  extract 
from  introduction  to  his  edition 
of  the  Autobiography  of  Dr. 
Franklin,  55. 

,  his  services  to  the  United 

States,  55. 

La  Rochefoucault,  eloge  on  Frank 
lin,  extract,  24. 


Lawrence,  Colonel,  265. 

Le   Veillard,    Louis,    Mayor  of 

Passy,  7. 
,    Franklin    prepared    his 


Memoirs  at  request  of,  7,  8,  15, 
1 8,  25. 
,  copy  of  Memoirs  sent  to 


him  by  Franklin,  9, 25, 49, 50, 5 1. 

,  letter  from,  to  Dr.  Frank 
lin,  1 8. 

,  letters  to,  from  William  T. 

Franklin,  26,  32,  34-37,  373, 
373. 

denies   all  responsibility 

for  the  first  French  translation 
of  the  Memoirs,  31. 

furnishes  the  copy  from 

which  edition  of  1817  is  printed, 

guillotined,  38,  51. 

Le  Veillard,  Madame,  exchanges 
copy  of  the  Autobiography  for 
the  original  manuscript,  38, 

39- 
Library,    Philadelphia,    projected 

by  Franklin,  194. 
The  Light-House  Tragedy,  93. 
Locke  on  Human  Understanding, 

98. 

Lodge  of  Nine  Sisters,  367. 
Logan,  James,  anecdote  of  Wm. 

Penn  told  by,  269. 
Looking-Glass  for  the  Times,  84. 
Lottery    proposed    by    Franklin, 

264. 
Loudoun,  Lord,  negotiates   with 

the  Assembly,  340. 
,  his  indecision  of  character 

illustrated,  340. 
,  Pitt's  reason  for  remov- 


ing,  342. 


4o4 


INDEX. 


Loudoun,     Lord,    expedition    to 

Louisburg,  342. 
,  criticism  of  his  campaign, 

343- 

,  neglects  to  settle  Frank 
lin's  accounts,  345,  346. 

Lords  of  Trade  order  a  congress 
of  commissioners  to  confer  with 
the  Six  Nations,  294. 

reject  Franklin's  plan  of 

a  union  of  the  Colonies,  295. 

MACCLESFIELD,  Lord,  address,  as 
President  of  the  Royal  Society, 
to  Dr.  Franklin,  on  presenting 
him  the  Copley  medal,  335. 

Magnalia  Christi  Americana,  83. 

Malo,  Charles,  publishes  a  col 
lection  of  Franklin's  corres 
pondence  in  France,  47. 

ruthless  attack  on  William 

Temple  Franklin,  47,  384. 

,  voluminous  writer,  47. 

,  specimens   of  his    blun 


ders,  47. 

Mandeville,  Dr.,  Franklin  intro 
duced  to,  142. 

Mansfield,  Lord,  negotiations  with 
Franklin,  357. 

Manuscripts  of  Dr.  Franklin  left 
to  William  Temple  Franklin, 
25,  26. 

Mather,  Cotton,  83. 

Essays  to  do  Good,  92. 

Maugridge,  William,  170. 

Memoirs  of  Franklin,  at  whose 
instance  prepared,  7. 

left  to  his  grandson,  Wil 
liam  Temple  Franklin,  7. 

exchanged  for  a  fair  copy 

with  widow  Le  Veillarcl,  8. 


Memoirs  of  Franklin  passed  to 
widow  Le  Veillard's  daughter,  8. 

passed  to  M.  de  Senar- 

mont,  8. 

passed  to  M.  P.  de  Senar- 


mont, 


passed  to  John  Bigelow, 


-,  collation  of,  8. 

-,    changes    in    by   editors, 


9-14. 


prepared  for  the  edifica 
tion  of  his  family,  15. 
,  first  87  pages  written  at 


Twyford,  15. 

shown    to   B.    Vaughan, 

Abel  James  and  M.  le  Veillard, 

15- 

resumed  at  Passy  in  1784, 


,   reasons    for    continuing, 

1 6,  30. 
not  written  to  counteract 


Rousseau's  Confession,  17. 

,  translations  of,  1 6. 

,    letters   about,  from   Dr. 


Franklin  to  E.  Bancroft,  17. 

,   letters    about,  from    Dr. 

Franklin  to  M.  le  Veillard,  18- 

22. 

,   letters   about,   from   Dr. 


Franklin  to  Mr.  Vaughan,  22, 23. 
,  letters  about,  from  Wil 


liam  Temple  Franklin  to  M.  le 
Veillard,  19,  26,  32,  34,  35. 

continued  in  1788,  22. 

,  all   hope  of  completing, 


abandoned,  22. 
taken   to   London   to   be 


published,  19,  26,  32,  34,  35, 
37- 


INDEX. 


405 


Memoirs,  French  translation  ap 
pears,  28. 

,  Preface  of,  28-31. 

,  translation  by  Jaques  Gib- 

elin,  31. 

,  how  did   he   obtain   the 

manuscript,  32. 

,  first  English  edition  of,  34. 

,  Sir  Samuel  Romilly's  de 
scription  of,  39. 

,  omission  of  eight  pages 

from     previous     editions     ex 
plained,  39,  40. 

-,  delay  in  the  publication 


of,  by  William  Temple  Frank 
lin  discussed,  37-47. 

,  description  of  the  manu 
script,  48. 

,  memorandum  inscribed 

on  the  fly-leaf  by  M.  de  Senar- 
mont,  49. 

,  transfer  of  the  MS.  to 

John  Bigelow,  52. 

,  Outline  of  Topics,  pre 
pared  by  Dr.  Franklin,  52,  60. 

,  orthography  of,  59. 

,  with  what  intention  writ 


ten,  194. 

,  why  interrupted,  194. 

,  letters   concerning,  from 

Abel  James  and  Benj.  Vaughan, 

196-205. 

,  Preface  to  Castera's  edi 
tion  of,  365. 
Meredith,     Hugh,    pressman    in 

Keimer's  printing-house,  157. 
contracts    a    partnership 

with  Franklin,  162. 

,  member  of  the  Junto,  1 70. 

,  father  of,  unable  to  pay  for 

the  type,  182. 


Meredith,  Hugh,  and  Franklin 
sued,  183. 

retires  from  the  partner 
ship  and  goes  to  North  Caro 
lina,  184. 

Mickle,  Samuel,  a  croaker;  his 
advice  to  Franklin,  168. 

Militia  organized  by  Franklin,  263. 

Mifflin,  General,  20. 

Moll  Flanders,  by  De  Foe,  108. 

Moravians  burned  out  by  Indians 
at  Gnadenhut,  318. 

,  measures  for  defence  of, 


319. 


,    Franklin's    account    of, 


Morris,  James,  opposed  to  a  de 
fence  of  the  country,  anecdote 
of,  268. 

Morris,  Governor,  anecdote  of, 
297. 

-  ,  disputes  with  the  Assem 
bly,  298. 

-  ,    friendly    relations    with 


Franklin,  298. 

,  anecdote  of,  299. 

replaced  by  Capt.  Denny, 


300. 

,  anecdote  of,  316. 

Morris,  Gouverneur,  named  Min 
ister  to  France,  37. 

,  an  appointment  not  agree 


able  to  the  National  Assembly, 
37- 

NEW  ENGLAND  COURANT  found 
ed  by  James  Franklin,  101. 

,  James  forbidden  to  print 

it,  105. 

New  Jersey,  William  Franklir 
governor  of,  9. 


406 


INDEX. 


Nollet,  Abbe,  writes  a  book  ques 
tioning  Franklin's  theory  of 
electricity,  332. 

,  Franklin  declines  to  an 
swer  him,  332. 

,  M.  le  Roy  replies  to  him, 

333- 
Norris,  Speaker  of  the  Assembly, 

280. 
,  named  commissioner  to 

treat    with    the    Indians,    280, 

294. 

OSBORNE,   CHARLES,   scrivener's 

clerk,  131. 

,  trick  played  on,  132. 

,  became  an  eminent  law- 

yer,  135- 
,  singular  agreement  with 

Franklin,  135. 
Ovid  cited,  209. 

PAMELA  of  Richardson,  108. 

Paine,  Thomas,  370. 

Palmer's  printing-house,  where 
Franklin  first  worked  in  Lon 
don,  141. 

Paper  money,  clamor  for  more, 
185. 

,  Franklin  writes  a  pamph 
let  on,  1 86. 

Paris,  Ferdinand  John,  Franklin's 
description  of,  355. 

writes  the  message  of  the 

Proprietaries  to  the  Assembly, 

355- 

Parsons,  William,  170,  262. 
Passy,  M.  le  Veillard  Mayor  of, 

and  friend  of  Franklin,  7,  38, 

39,  49- 


Pembroke,  Lord,  Franklin  visits 
house  and  gardens  of,  at  Wil 
ton,  350. 

Poor  Richard^s  Almanac  pro 
jected,  235. 

,  popularity  of,  236. 

Postmaster,  Franklin  appointed, 
247,  293. 

Pownall,  Governor,  sent  to  New 
York  for  aid,  300. 

Price,  Dr.,  copy  of  Memoirs  sent 
to,  25. 

Priestly,  Dr.  353. 

Proprietaries,  hereditary  quarrels, 
299. 

refused  to  have  their 

estates  taxed  for  their  defence, 
299,316,  317,327- 

,    their    instructions    dis 


obeyed  by  Capt.  Denny,  300. 
indignant  at  military  hon- 


the 


ors  paid  to  Franklin,  327. 

accuse    Franklin   to 

Ministry,  328. 
meet  with  Franklin  at  T. 


Penn's  house,  354. 

,  Franklin  gives  them,  in 

writing,  heads  of  the  colonists' 
complaints,  355. 

,  they  complain  of  rude 
ness  to  the  Assembly,  355. 

Provincial  Letters,  98. 

Pythagoras'  Golden  Verses  cited, 
217. 

"  Plain  Truth  "  written  by  Frank 
lin,  263. 

Philadelphia  regiment,  264. 

Plutarch's  Lives,  92. 

Philosophical  Society  projected, 
260. 

,  history  of,  261. 


INDEX. 


407 


Philosophical  Society,  list  of  orig 
inal  members  of,  262. 
Philadelphia,  Franklin  determines 

to  go  there,  107. 
,  Franklin  lands  at  Market 

street  wharf,  in. 
,     Franklin    projects    the 

Library  in,  194. 
,      Philosophical      Society 

founded  in,  262. 

Penn,  William,  anecdote  of,  269. 
Penn,  Thomas,  commissioner  to 

treat  with  the  Indians,  294. 
Pennsylvania     Gazette    founded, 

177. 
purchased   by   Franklin, 

177. 

,  extracts  from,  178. 

,     mode     of     conducting, 

237- 

Pennsylvania,  Governor  of,  ap 
proves  Franklin's  plan  of  union 
of  the  Colonies,  297. 

Pennsylvania  Hospital  founded, 
281. 

,  bill  to  incorporate  intro 
duced,  283. 

Peters,  Rev.  Mr.,  260. 

Peters,  Mr.,  Secretary  of  Assem 
bly,  commissioned  to  treat  with 
the  Six  Nations,  294, 

QUAKERS,  266. 

not  opposed  to  the  armed 

defence  of  the  Colony,  266. 

,  anecdote  respecting,  266. 

,  address  to  them  by  Mr. 

Logan  in  favor  of  defending  the 

Colony,  269. 
,     their     embarrassments, 


Quakers  decline  public  service  in 

Assembly,  273. 
Querard,  31. 
Quincy,  Mr.,  sent  to  Pennsylvania 

for  aid,  300. 
-,   friendship  for    Franklin, 

301. 

RALPH,  JAMES,  132. 

,    fond   of  writing   verses, 

132. 
,  trick  played  by  him  on 


Osborne,  132. 

satirized  in  the  Dunciad, 

134. 

goes    to    England    with 


Franklin,  136. 

borrows  money  of  Frank 
lin,  140. 

intrigue  with   a   milliner, 


143- 

opens  a  school,  144. 

quarrels  with  Franklin, 

146. 

,  Governor  Denny's  opin 
ion  of,  338. 

Read,  Miss,  first  sees  Franklin, 
112. 

,  Franklin  goes  to  board 

with  her  father,  116. 

,  courtship  of,  by  Franklin 


suspended,  130. 
marries  Rogers,  a  potter, 


155- 


192. 


-  marries  Franklin,  191. 
-,  Franklin's  opinion  of  her, 

,  poetry  on  her,  192. 

Religious  Courtship,  by  De  Foe, 

1 08. 
Richardson's  Pamela,  108. 


408 


INDEX. 


Rhoads,  Samuel,  262. 

Rochefoucault.  See  La  Roche- 
foucault. 

Rogers,  first  husband  of  Miss 
Read,  155. 

ran  away  to  the  West  In 
dies,  156. 

Rogier,  Abbe,  376. 

Romilly,  Sir  Samuel,  inspects  the 
original  MS.  of  Franklin's  Me 
moirs,  39. 

Rousseau,  Confessions  of,  17,365. 

Royal  Society,  a  summary  of 
Franklin's  electrical  experi 
ments  published  in  Transac 
tions  of,  334. 

,  flattering  conditions  of 

Franklin's  election  into,  334. 

Rose,  Aquila,  Philadelphia  prin 
ter,  107. 

,  his  death,  107. 

,  Elegy  on,  115. 

SCULL,  NICHOLAS,  169. 

Seller  &  Shermy's  Navigation,  98. 

De  Senarmont,  M.,  8,  31,  38,  49, 

5°>  5*>  52. 
Shaftesbury,  99. 
Shipley,  Dr.,  Franklin  commenced 

his  Memoirs  while  visiting,  15, 

65. 
,  friend  of  Franklin  and  of 

the  Colonies,  65. 
,  letters   about,   from   Dr. 

Franklin,  65,  66. 
,  letters  from  the   Doctor 


about  him   on   hearing   of  his 

death,  66. 

Shirley,  Governor,  296. 
,      secretary     of     General 

Braddock,  killed,  312. 


Shirley,  General,  appoints  com 
missioners  to  examine  Frank 
lin's  claims,  315. 

,  Franklin's  comparison  of, 

with  Lord  Loudoun,  343. 

,  anecdote  of,  345. 

Short,  Mr.,  named  minister  to 
Holland,  37. 

Six  Nations,  conference  with,  294. 

Sloane,  Sir  Hans,  purchases  an 
asbestos  purse  of  Franklin,  143. 

Socratic  method,  99. 

Sparks',  Jared,  conjectures  about 
Wm.  T.  Franklin's  motives  for 
delaying  the  publication  of  his 
grandfather's  works,  42-44,  59. 

Spence,  Dr.,  Franklin  purchases 
philosophical  apparatus  of,  278. 

Spottiswood,  Colonel,  appoints 
Franklin  deputy  postmaster, 
247. 

Streets,  cleaning,  lighting  and 
paving  of,  285,  287. 

,  sweeping  of,  proposal  to 

Dr.  Fothergill,  288. 

,  anecdote  respecting  street- 


sweeping,  289. 
St.  Clair.     See  Clair. 

TAYLOR,  ABRAM,  265. 
Tennent,  Gilbert,  285. 
Thomas,  Governor,  271. 

offers   Franklin  a  patent 

for  his  stove,  274. 
,   conference  at  his  house 


in  London,  354. 

Tinck,  Franklin's  maitre  d'hotel, 
anecdote  of,  99. 

De  St.  Try,  M.,  375. 

Tryon,  author  of  a  book  recom 
mending  a  vegetable  diet,  97. 


INDEX. 


409 


UNIVERSITY  OF  PENNSYLVANIA. 

See  Academy. 
Union    Fire   Company  projected 

by  Franklin,  250. 

VANITY  considered  by  Dr.  Frank 
lin  one  of  the  comforts  of  life, 

68-73- 

,  Gibbon's  view  of,  70. 

,  Hume's  view  of,  73. 

Vaughan,  Benj.,  is  shown  Memoirs 
of  Franklin,  15. 

,  letters  to,  from  Dr.  Frank 
lin,  22,  23,  386. 

,  Franklin  asks  his  advice 


about  the  Memoirs,  23. 
Veillard.     See  Le  Veillard. 
Vernon  gives  Franklin  an  order 

to  collect  some  money,  122. 

asks  Franklin  for  it,  182. 

Villele,  M.  de  la,  367. 

WASHINGTON,  GENERAL,  20. 

Water  American,  The,  why  so 
called,  146. 

Watson,  Joseph,  131,  132. 

,  death  of,  135. 

Watson,  Dr.,  prepared  a  sum 
mary  of  Franklin's  electrical 
experiments  for  Royal  Society, 

334- 

Watts'  printing-house,  Franklin 
is  employed  in,  146,  147. 


Webb,  compositor  in  Keimer's 
printing-office,  157. 

,  Franklin's  account  of,  158. 

Welfare,  Michael,  his  account  of 
the  creed  of  the  Dunkers, 
272. 

Whitefield,  Rev.  Mr.,  visits  Phil 
adelphia,  251. 

,  his  popularity,  252. 

,    church    built    for    him, 

253- 
asks  money  to  build  an 

orphan  asylum  in  Georgia,  254. 

,  his  success,  255. 

,  his  oratory,  257. 


Windham,  Sir  Wm.,  asks  Frank 
lin  to  teach  his  sons  to  swim, 

154- 

Wolfe,  General,  342. 
Worthilake,   Capt.,  drowning  of, 

93- 

Wright,  Dr.,  wrote  to  a  member 
of  the  Royal  Society  about 
Franklin's  electrical  experi 
ments,  334. 

Wygate,  Franklin  teaches  to- 
swim,  151. 

XENOPHON'S  MEMORABILIA,  99. 

YOUNG,  Dr.,  satire  on  the  folly 
of  pursuing  the  Muses  quoted,. 
144. 


THE    END. 


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